Randolph Boys Lax

By David Cooch

It's a new year for Randolph lacrosse, coming into this season down five seniors but backed up by a skillful crop of freshmen. There are only two returning seniors, starting midfielder Derek Riley, and the only returning defenseman from last year, Ben Adams. Randolph will be a much more balanced team, replacing last year's stand-outs with depth and consistency. As many as three midfield lines plus a skillful attack line will be at their disposal this year.

Junior Travis Burns will look to back up Ben Adams on defense along with Taylor Holt, Sam Lyons, Mike Dunican, and Kyle Williams. Junior goalie David Cooch will be back for his second year in net and will try to direct the new defense.

Randolph will look to threaten opponents' defense with Riley, junior David Whitlock, and freshman Alex Green. But they will also look for support from junior Codi Tabor and Peter Wittman, and freshmen Matt Simpson and Matt Dezan. The boys lax team will be coached by Brian Kennedy and Paul Shriver. The boys are fired up this year and have high hopes for success. They played their first game Tuesday, at home, against Lamoille. This after six weeks of practice and only a few of those outdoors due to the erratic weather. The next home game will be on Saturday, May 5.

Home Opener

Playing their first game of the season, Randolph was faced by visiting Lamoille on Tuesday, April 24. The boys fell short of their high expectations and lost the match, 7-3.

Lamoille, playing its fourth game of the season, converted on early chances and never lost their lead. After a lengthy Randolph possession that turned up empty, Lamoille quickly put one in on the other end. Shortly thereafter another one got past the goalie, but from there, Randolph started to relax some and pulled it together. The first quarter ended with Randolph down, 3-0.

The second quarter was much more even, with Randolph freshman Alex Green striking from the crease off a feed from David Whitlock to take the score to 3-1. Lamoille would net one more in the quarter to see the first half end with Randolph down by three.

Fired up in the second half, the Ghosts came out trying to close the gap. Derek Riley scored from close range and put Lamoille into Randolph's sights. However, they were unable to build off that momentum and Lamoille turned the tables with two quick goals. Randolph hung in there, though, when Green brought the score to 6-3, off a quick stick. Needing a big offensive quarter to pull out the W, Randolph did not convert a single goal while Lamoille added one more, making the final score 7-3.

Goalie David Cooch finished with 16 saves. Randolph looked a little uneasy on the field but they can blame it at this point on the fact that they haven't been outside for a whole week yet. As the season goes on, Randolph will have to pick up their game both offensively and defensively. RUHS has an away game against Harwood on Thursday, and they will also play U-32 away on Saturday, Lamoille away on Monday, and Burlington away on Thursday.