(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski) caption: WELCOME MATT: Hun School boys’ lacrosse post-graduate star Matt Verducci prepares to fire the ball in recent action. Verducci’s solid two-way play in the midfield was a big plus for the Raiders as they went 8-9 this spring.

Despite Tough Losses Down the Stretch, Hun Boys’ Lacrosse Kept Progressing

Bill Alden

Based on a glance at the won-loss record, it would seem like the Hun School boys’ lacrosse team struggled down the stretch.

The Raiders lost four of their last five games, ending the spring with an 8-9 record.

But Hun head coach Tom Kelso saw plenty of progress over the last part of the season.

“I thought we played some of our best lacrosse in the last two weeks of the season; it was the toughest part of our season in terms of the level of competition,” said Kelso, who was in his first year guiding the program.

“From April to May, I thought we got better each week. The fundamentals were very good the last couple of weeks. We were understanding how to play with each other. With a lot of new guys, it took us time to figure out the offense and defense that works best for us.”

Hun got some good work from its attack trio of Steffen Gratch, Will Sweetland, and Iain Alexandridis.

“Steffen and Will had played with each other last year and they knew where to find each other on the field,” said Kelso.

“I thought that once Iain started to fit in with them, we had a really good attack.”

Kelso credited junior goalie Mike Buckbinder with developing into a really good netminder.

“We would have been lost this year without Mike,” maintained Kelso. “He was a first time goalie making the move to help the team. He really took off after the St. Luke’s game; he won that game for us and that really gave him confidence. He played well against some of the better teams that we played.”

The pair of freshman Zach Bicho and junior Scott Munley gave Hun some of the better face-off play the program has had in recent years.

“Zach Bicho and Scott Munley did a great job on the face-offs,” said Kelso. “It was hard for teams to go on runs against us. Zach was the main guy on face-offs. It was a good way for him to understand the pace of the game. He learned a lot. Scott was the change-up guy.”

Kelso liked the way his seniors set up the pace, crediting tri-captains Matt Verducci, Dylan Zucosky, and Sawyer Dietz with making valuable contributions this spring.

“We learned how much Matt meant to us when he was out a couple of games,” said Kelso. “When he wasn’t in there, we fell flat on our faces. Dylan was the older guy on defense and the younger guys looked up to him. Sawyer Dietz played well at defensive middie. He has a high lacrosse IQ; he was a big help on the field.”

The Raiders showed some high intensity down the stretch, playing well in one-goal losses to Chestnut Hill (9-8 loss) and Hill (10-9 in overtime) and a 12-8 win over Somerville.

“We learned from each game,” said Kelso. “We would do one thing well in one game and then work on doing another thing well for the next game. We learned from our mistakes. I thought we didn’t make many mistakes in the Hill game even though we lost.”

In reflecting on his head coaching debut, Kelso said he learned some important lessons.

“I learned a lot after the first couple of weeks, making notes after each practice and game on what I liked and what I didn’t,” said Kelso.

“I will change a couple of things next year. As a coach, you have to look at the big picture and sometimes you lose focus on the little things. After one bad loss, we worked on the fundamentals and basics, just catching and throwing and moving. The next game, we had the most shots of any game this year.”

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