The Minutemen hope to make further strides in 2018 after finishing 6–6 last season.
Washington Township High School boys lacrosse underwent a big transformation during the course of the 2017 season.
After struggling to a 0–6 start in 2017, the Minutemen went 6–6 the rest of the season, won an overtime playoff game at Cherokee High School and nearly upset Freehold Township High School in the quarterfinals, losing 10–9 in overtime.
This year, Washington Township plans to build off the second half of last year and take the next step toward becoming a winning program.
“It’s all about how you finish,” head coach Josh Hanlon said of last year’s finish. “When we struggled early last year, we made adjustments and we talked about preparing when it mattered most.”
“That kind of set the bar,” Hanlon added. “It wasn’t just about being part of the playoffs. It’s about getting there and getting that win.”
This year, the Minutemen return a ton of firepower on offense. Leading the way will be seniors Jake Dzierzgowski and Carson Shultz. Dzierzgowski led Washington Township with 54 goals and 28 assists last year, while Shultz scored 28 goals and chipped in 22 assists.
“We’re really excited about what we can do with them,” Hanlon said. “We’re going to have to get creative. Teams are going to prepare for them. We’re going to really need to have other guys step up around them.”
Both players are also taking on greater leadership roles this season. Shultz was a player who emerged as a leader during the Minutemen’s tough start in 2017. Hanlon said Shultz’s leadership helped lead Washington Township’s turnaround last year.
“Carson Shultz has leadership qualities that are just intangible,” Hanlon said. “We made him a captain as a junior in the middle of last year. Some of the observations and things he said turned our season around.”
One area Washington Township is looking to improve in is controlling faceoffs. Sophomore Zach Grassi is expected to take most of the faceoffs for Washington Township this year, and Hanlon is excited to see what strides Grassi will make.
Washington Township also has a solid core of returning players on defense. In goal, Dylan Kreitzer and Andrew Magilton split time last year and will likely do the same in 2018.
“We have a solid core returning in goal,” Hanlon said. “We have starting close defenseman and we have a third spot where we’re looking for someone to step up.”
Washington Township is looking for a number of young players to step into bigger roles this year. Hanlon has been pleased with the effort he’s gotten from the underclassmen early in the preseason.
“We have a lot of sophomores,” he said. “We had a good freshmen class last year, so we have a good range of talent across all levels.”
Hanlon isn’t focused on getting his program to a specific win total in the preseason. He is instead keeping his team focused on simply playing well in the season’s opening game.
“Our motto is, next goal,” Hanlon said. “We’re always short sighted in what we do. Right now, we open against St. Joseph’s Hammonton on March 28. Our goal right now is to focus on the first goal of the game.”
