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04/18/2023 08:13 AMWhen a team has a mix of veterans and young talent, it is often imperative to have strong leadership to help lead the squad to prominence. The Morgan Huskies boys’ lacrosse team is no exception to this, as they hope to make postseason strides this spring.
First-year Head Coach Michael Caprio, who has known the core of the team since they were in youth lacrosse, has a lot of faith in his senior leadership group to lead by example this season and keep everyone motivated.
There are four captains leading the charge this campaign, including Ravi Kadel (senior, defender), Jake Mastriano (senior, faceoff), Dylan Mazzarella (senior, attack), and Luke Gagliardi (senior, defender).
“Ravi brings a presence to the entire defensive side of the ball; he is lights out on defense. Jake is my faceoff guy, and he has a great shot; he is just an all-around team leader,” said Caprio. “Dylan is super fast, really evasive, and finds the net a lot—scores a lot of goals for us. Luke has been playing defense his whole life, and the other teams’ offensive guys usually shy away from him on defense because he is relentless.”
Morgan played its first game of the season on April 3, when the Huskies took a 15-5 victory over the Old Lyme Wildcats on the road. Mazzarella totaled seven goals, Abe Adams-Hull (senior, goaltender) had eight saves, and Caprio noted that it was a great first win for the squad. The Huskies then traveled to Old Saybrook on April 6 and defeated the Rams by a final score of 9-8.
Caprio may be in his first year at the helm for the Huskies, but having known a lot of the kids since they were young, he understands their work ethic and playing style. His son Jake Caprio (senior, long stick midfielder (LSM)) is also on the roster.
“My son is on the team, and they are all of his friends, so I have known these kids for a really long time,” said Caprio. “I just have not coached them at the varsity level until this year. I know them personally and have watched them play their whole lives.”
The Huskies compete in the Shoreline Athletic Conference (SLC) as well as Class S.
Captain Adams-Hull has been the primary goalie for the Huskies and has been a key asset to the successful start to the season that they’ve had.
“He has been playing goalie ever since youth. To have no actual formal goalie training, he is tremendous,” said Caprio. “He is a leader on and off the field for this team. When he is on, he is on.”
A few key players were not in attendance during the matchup versus Old Saybrook, including Mazzarella and a few others who didn’t play due to injuries; however, the Huskies were still able to push forward on the field and capitalize with a win, showing the resiliency of each individual on the team.
“We were down some players and got some unnecessary penalties. I had to switch my goalie halfway through the game,” said Caprio. “It just shows you how the boys’ attitudes, love for the game, and experience really persevered. We were able to come back and pull out a close win.”
Along with Adams-Hull, the Huskies have another goalie in Braedan Steahle (freshman). Despite being new to the team, he was able to get some playing time in the second half of the Old Saybrook game, and Caprio was pleased with what he saw from him.
This year’s Morgan team is very senior heavy, with 18 returning players in the fold. Nine of those players have been teammates during youth lacrosse as well as summer high-level club ball.
“The experience that they bring to the table this year is unprecedented,” said Caprio. “It shows my younger guys where we need to be, where they need to elevate to in order to be competitive moving forward.”
In terms of experienced players, Caprio is expecting Seamus Staunton (senior) and Jake Caprio to be top performers this spring.
“My number one top contributor is going to be Seamus; through three games already, he has a lot of goals. He is super fast, super strong, probably my best offensive player out there,” said Caprio. “[Jake] Caprio is our LSM, and he is relatively new to that position; he only started playing that position last year. He has excelled at that position defensively, is a ground ball machine, and that is what we need him for, to possess the ball.”
Caprio also adds that senior defender Tyler Wienzimmer is a very physical player, already recording seven ground balls on the season, and has been a huge asset in clearing the ball for the Huskies.
On April 11, the Huskies hosted the Valley Regional Warriors and won 13-3. Adams-Hull recorded 12 saves. Then, on April 13, Morgan took to the road to face the Haddam-Killingworth (H-K) Cougars, a team Caprio recognized was going to be competitive.
“H-K is always tough; they are probably our biggest rival in the Shoreline. They always have a good defense, and our offense needs to match that,” said Caprio. “They need to elevate their play and find the net.”
Toughness is exactly what the Cougars showed, as they handed Morgan its first loss of the season by a score of 7-5.
Through the first four games, Staunton (13 goals, seven assists, 16 groundballs), Mazzarella (11 goals, four assists), Mastriano (three goals, six assists, 20 groundballs), Jake Lichak (freshman, four goals,), Caprio (three assists, 21 groundballs), Gagliardi (16 groundballs), Kadel (eight groundballs), and Hunter Roth (sophomore, two goals) all stood out for the Huskies.
Last season, Morgan faced H-K in the Shoreline Championship game and lost a tight 7-6 contest. They then went on to play in the Class S State Tournament and were knocked out in the first round to the Sheehan Titans by a final score of 17-4.
Hoping to grow on that this spring, Caprio’s primary goal is to win the Shoreline Championship and make a deeper run in the state tournament.
“I will say I have a great roster this year [29 players], and the future of the program is looking pretty good,” said Caprio. “Numbers-wise, we have the most in the Shoreline, which I am pretty excited about.”
Caprio is assisted on the sidelines by Jonathan Wolfer and a volunteer helper in Mateo Zumpano.
The Huskies roster is comprised of Adams-Hull, Luke Bellinger (senior, defender), Caprio, Gagliardi, Mastriano, Mazzarella, Aidan Staunton (senior, defensive midfielder), Wienzimmer, Staunton, Nico Cimino (junior, midfielder), Dylon Marshall (junior, defensive midfielder), Jalen Bunce (sophomore, defender), Mitchell Deming (sophomore, defender), Cole Donnelly (sophomore, midfielder), Tyler Farrell (sophomore, attacker), Luke McComiskey (sophomore, midfielder), Carlos Oliva-Alvarez (sophomore, midfielder), Rowan Quinn (sophomore, defender), Griffin Ranaudo (sophomore, midfielder), Roth, Justin Smith (sophomore, long stick midfielder/defender), Christian Jacob-Harris (freshman, attack/midfielder), Lichack, Nicholas Maenza (freshman, defender), Jaydon O’Bymachow (freshman, midfielder), Declan Shortt (freshman, attacker), and Steahle.