Printer Friendly Version - Old Saybrook Boys’ Lacrosse Captures First Shoreline Conference Title

The Old Saybrook boys’ lacrosse team stands proudly with its championship banner after securing its first ever Shoreline Conference title with a 10-8 win over North Branford on May 23. Photo courtesy of Jon Mason

History has been made. For the first time in its existence, the Old Saybrook boys’ lacrosse team secured a Shoreline Conference Championship title. Sporting a roster full of hungry, hard-working athletes, the Rams showed off their dominance and left it all on the field.

Head Coach Jon Mason, who is currently in his fourth season with the team, had his athletes prepared for a rematch with a familiar foe in the conference final. His team, which finished 14-2 in the regular season and set a school record for best regular season mark, knew what to expect from the Thunderbirds and played with a high level of energy for the entirety of the contest.

“We finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed in the Shoreline with our first round against No. 4 Old Lyme and won 17-15,” said Mason. “The team played extremely well and played with a lot of heart. We took more shots than they did and had more ground balls. We had split our games with North Branford going 1-1 in the regular season. This was a great rematch, knowing that it was going to be a really passionate and intense game.”

In the championship clash, Liam Roberts (junior, attack) scored four goals, Aiden D’Anna (senior, captain, midfielder) scored two goals, and Luke Webb (senior, midfielder), Brayden Cody (senior, captain, attack) Brendan Casella (junior, attack), and Wes Percival (junior, faceoff) each scored one goal apiece.

“We played some really strong defense, and our attackman, Liam Roberts, he had four goals this game. This was a big credit to him - he is a fantastic shooter and a really nice young man,” said Mason. “We were 2-1 at the end of the first quarter, by half it was 4-2. By the end, we were able to stay on the positive side.”

Any successful team needs strong leaders. Old Saybrook certainly had that this spring in its three senior captains: Will Maselli (long stick midfielder/defense), Cody, and D’Anna. They all worked together to bring unity to their squad and set the tone from the get-go.

“They have been doing a fantastic job. They took this year extremely seriously and have been very vocal leaders throughout the season,” said Mason. “They have been very much involved in everything that we do.”

Maselli looks back on the season with pride, knowing he and his teammates left their hearts on the turf to accomplish a goal they had been working towards for a very long time.

“It means everything to us. To go from worst in the Shoreline to winning it all in four years, it’s not something we think about lightly,” said Maselli. “After the success we had last year, we had expectations going into this season, and to be able to deliver on those expectations is so incredibly rewarding. To have coaches and teammates that build each other up and to win it all together is an amazing feeling.”

On the defensive end of the field, Ngwang Choegyal, Ethan Lane (junior), and Braeden Hagelston (senior) have also highly contributed to the Rams’ success this season.

Cody, D’Anna, Percival, Roberts, and Choegyal (senior, defense), all received All-Conference awards, and Casella was an Honorable Mention.

“Wes is our faceoff guy and has done a phenomenal job for us getting possession. In the game against North Branford, he was close to 70% wins. It is a really difficult position, and he did a great job with it,” said Mason. “One of the difficult things for the All-Shoreline Conference voting was all three of my attackmen have almost equal stats. They all have about the same number of goals and assists, which left other teams struggling to decide who to defend. When you get three of almost the identical player, it gets difficult. Brendan Casella, Liam Roberts, and Brayden Cody have just done an outstanding job and are very much skilled.”

On May 29, the sixth-seeded Rams geared up to begin competition in the Class S State Tournament against No. 11 Stonington. The Rams came away with an 18-8 victory.

Roberts (five goals, two assists), Cody (five goals, three assists), Casella (three goals, one assist), Percival (two goals, four assists), Jamison LeMire (sophomore, defender), and D’Anna all scored a goal. Percival went 12-4 on faceoffs, and the Rams racked up ground balls against the Bears, 42-18.

"We came out ready to defend our turf. Our boys have their sights fixed on a state championship, and I believe we've got the talent to get there,” said Mason. “Stonington played well but had limited options on how to shut down our explosive offense. Our defense played well, shutting down the Bears’ offense. Junior goalie Cole Lawson racked up 10 saves and cleared with an 84% success rate.”

Going into the state tournament, the head space of each athlete was still very much in championship mode, one of nervous energy, passion, and excitement for the game.

On June 1, the Rams traveled to play the No. 3 seed Granby Memorial in the state quarterfinals and took a 12-4 loss. Percival and Casella had two goals each, with Cody having one assist. In front of the net, Lawson was able to hold back Granby Memorial with 10 saves.

Despite coming up short of winning a state championship, there is still a lot to be proud of from Mason’s perspective.

“"What strikes me most about this team is the selflessness we played with. There was never a me, only we,” said Mason. “This group played for each other with everything they had, and in the end, we came up just a bit short. This team will not be forgotten with our first conference championship win and the family we've become.”

In 2021, when Mason took over as the head coach, the team went 1-15. Over the past three years, the program has grown tremendously and completely changed its public image through continuous growth and success.

“I think the biggest challenge was changing people’s minds about Old Saybrook and lacrosse. Back in 2015 and 2016, we had back-to-back seasons with zero wins, which hurt the confidence for everybody to expect anything out of Old Saybrook,” said Mason. “It has been a long road building something that we can be proud of. It was our plan this year to win the Shoreline Conference, and that was a long way from when we started in 2021. We have been able to make everything much better, get the No. 1 seed, and win the conference.”

The Rams team roster is comprised of Choegyal, Cody, Jacob DeAngelo (senior, midfielder), D’Anna, Hagelston, Holden LeMire (senior, defender), Maselli, Patrick Sheahan (senior, defender), Webb, Brandon Hester (junior, midfielder), Casella, Lawson, Lane, Roberts, Percival, Ben Witczak (sophomore, midfielder), Greyson Richards (sophomore, midfielder), LeMire, Finnegan Speed (sophomore, midfielder), Kevin Susi (sophomore, defender), Jonathan Craparo (freshman, goalie), Keegan Dobratz (freshman, midfielder), and Michael Page (freshman, attack).