(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski) caption: TRIGGER MAN: Hun School boys’ lacrosse star Steffen Gratch heads to goal last Thursday in Hun’s 15-7 opening day win over Academy of New Church. Junior attacker Gratch triggered the Hun offense in the victory, tallying five goals and five assists. The Raiders, now 1-1, play at Pennington on April 7 and at Voorhees High on April 9.

Sparked by Gratch’s Offensive Production, Hun Boys’ Lax Tops ANC 15-7 in Opener

Bill Alden

Steffen Gratch has paid his dues when it comes to improving his lacrosse game.

“I have been playing lacrosse my whole life; I feel like I have gotten better every year,” said Gratch, a junior attacker for the Hun School boys’ lacrosse team.

“I play all year long. From an experience standpoint, I know when to slow it down and when to pick it up. I have gotten bigger and stronger.”

Last Thursday in Hun’s season opener against Academy of New Church (ANC), the 6’5, 215-pound Gratch showed that he is primed to do some big things this spring, scoring 10 points on five goals and five assists as the Raiders posted a 15-7 victory.

Despite the final margin, Gratch and the Raiders didn’t start strongly in the opener against ANC as they fell behind 4-1 in the first quarter.

“We didn’t come out as well as we wanted; we made a couple of mistakes on the defensive end and we had a couple of turnovers on the offensive end,” said Gratch.

“Coach [Tom Kelso] called a timeout and said we needed to get ourselves back together.”

Hun got going when it went a man-up for the first three minutes of the second quarter due to a stick violation.

“That was a huge momentum swing,” said Gratch. “We got a couple of goals and that put things back into our hands.”

The slick Gratch took things into his hands during that stretch, quarterbacking the offense from behind the net, picking up an assist and a goal.

“I feel like I can keep control and look for my teammates as they cut and move towards the goal,” said Gratch. “I like to stay behind there; I feel like I can see the whole field.”

In the third quarter, Hun started feeling really good as it outscored ANC 4-0 to turn a slim halftime lead of 6-5 into a 10-5 cushion.

“We really got fired up in the second half and really took control in the offensive end,” said Gratch.

“We had the ball in our offensive end most of the time; I was really proud of my teammates there.”

The attack unit of Gratch, senior Will Sweetland, and junior Iain Alexandridis demonstrated how they can take control of a game.

“We have been playing together for a couple of years now so we know exactly what the other person is doing,” added Gratch. “We know how to feed and read off of each other.”

Hun head coach Tom Kelso acknowledged that his team wasn’t reading the game too well in the early going.

“This was our first game; we have scrimmages to get the jitters out but we didn’t get them out in the first quarter,” said Kelso, who got two goals apiece in the win from Sweetland, Alexandridis, and sophomore midfielder Zach Bicho.

“Having that three-minute man-up really helped. One of the things we have done well in the preseason is our man-up.”

Having Gratch playing so well is also a big help for Hun. “Steffen has really improved from last year to this year,” asserted Kelso.

“He was a great player last year but he is much better this year. He dedicated himself in the offseason. He lifted weights, he ran, he did a lot of clinics and camps. It showed out there today.”

The team’s attacking group certainly looks better collectively. “All three attackmen have had a full year to jell with each other,” said Kelso, who got eight goals and three assists from Sweetland together with four more goals from Gratch in a losing cause last Saturday as Hun fell 14-13 at Blair. “They know each other’s moves.”

After starting slowly Thursday, the Hun defense got moving, sparked by senior defenseman Brian Patriarca and senior goalie Mike Buckbinder.

“Brian Patriarca was really good,” said Kelso, whose team plays at Pennington on April 7 and at Voorhees High on April 9.

“He is the captain of the defense along with Mike. We really talked about being communicative and talking a lot on defense. They started talking and I saw our defense gain confidence; I really credit those guys with settling down the defense.”

In Gratch’s view, the win in the opener portends good things to come. “It feels good to get that first win,” said Gratch.

“The team as a whole has a better chemistry. The defense has improved tenfold since we started practicing because none of those kids had played together before.”

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