Archived Edition: May 04, 2004 | Back to Current	Jul 31, 2010

Men’s JV LAX finishes yet another successful season
Joe McCurdy - CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Junior Varsity (JV) men’s lacrosse wrapped up its season last week, finishing with a 7-3 record. While competing against a mix of college, high school and the occasional middle school students, the Ephs were able to overcome their lack of skill with brute force, allowing players and fans to all have a great time in the process.

The team was anchored by senior standouts Eben Pingree ’04, John O’Connor ’04 and Garrett Collins ’04. Player/coach Stephen Szalkowski ’04 also demonstrated great leadership for the squad after coming back from a painful shoulder injury. Captains Chris Ryan ’04 and George Washington Adams IV ’04 combined for the most shots and minutes played while running the midfield for the Ephmen, and their leadership during warm-ups will be remembered by all.

The defensive midfield was dominated by the great hustle of Graham Goldwasser ’04 and Jake Moore ’04. Both displayed a crude understanding of the rules, but an uncanny ability to put an opposing player on his back. Goldwasser was able to add to his record of most JV penalty minutes lifetime which was set two years ago, but up-and-comers Mitch Connor ’06 and Jonathan Brajtbord ’06 showed a lot of potential in this department.

The steady offensive production of Jamie Strawbridge ’04 and Bryan McCoy ’04 was balanced well by the shrewd defensive play by Lal Hahn ’04, John Schneider ’04 and Dave Conyers ’04. Conyers also stepped in for the final game in net, where he displayed great toughness. For many of the other games, Baemen Vertovez ’04 commanded the net, and with his contacts in and a decent night of sleep, he proved to be quite the goalkeeper.

While not all team members can be mentioned, one would be remiss not to mention the team’s hardest worker – and most improved player – Ronit Bhattacharyya ’07. Bhattacharyya made up for his lack of game savvy with great hustle and a tireless spirit. With most of the team graduating this June, underclassmen like Bhattacharyya will be expected to fill their void.

This team was one of the most dedicated of recent years in both on the field activities and off the field events. As always, all of the members had a great time and showed a commitment rarely seen at the JV level. This dedication could be seen in the team’s midweek practices in the pouring rain and their game-day use of the pin shorts.

Superfan and men’s basketball star Ben Coffin ’04 described the team as being “just as electrifying and boisterous on the field as off.”

“The team showed a lot of guts going out there and taking on kids four, six and even eight years younger than them,” Coffin said. “It’s not easy keeping up with kids that young and in shape.”

The team was coached once again by Bill Kangas, who also coaches men’s ice hockey. Kangas was able to help the players realize their full potential even in the face of obstacles such as early Saturday morning games and nationally ranked prep schools. Kangas’ dedication to scheduling games every day of the week, all of them at home, was greatly appreciated by his team and proved to be a recipe for success.

While most of his seniors are graduating, Kangas will surely be able to turn next year’s crop of unskilled and out-of-shape athletes into winners once again. The JV team is the proud owner of the best men’s lacrosse record at Williams, a tradition it hopes to continue next season.