By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
The Hammonton High boys and girls lacrosse teams are a combined 3-24 this spring. That’s to be expected, though, as the Blue Devils are the newest entry into the South Jersey lacrosse world. Both programs are in their first year of official varsity competition in the Cape-Atlantic League, and there are going to be some growing pains as Hammonton athletes try to figure out a whole new sport.
Hammonton boys coach Ryan Prendergast, who played lacrosse at Notre Dame High in Mercer County and went on to run cross country at The College of New Jersey, said he was shocked that Hammonton didn’t have a lacrosse team. He attended a Blue Devils football game a few years ago, saw some outstanding athletes, and asked some folks how well the Hammonton boys lacrosse team was doing.
People were like, ‘um, what are you talking about?’
Fast forward a couple years and after club seasons last year, with both teams mostly just practicing and having intersquad scrimmages, both the boys and girls teams at Hammonton are official and rolling through their first seasons as varsity programs.
“I moved down here and went to see a football game when they were playing my alma mater and saw how athletic (Hammonton players) were and I wanted to learn how their lacrosse team was doing. I looked them up, couldn’t find them, so we started laying the groundwork. Luckily for me there was a kid who was already trying to get a team started here for a couple years, so there was already some word going around school and there was some interest,” Prendergast said. “They just needed somebody to come in and help them start it. It took a year or two. Last year we were a club team so we kind of just slowed things down, came out here four days a week just repping stick work. We didn’t play any games, we were just out here playing lacrosse, learning lacrosse. I think that was beneficial for the kids who returned because they are not going through the growing pains, where as the kids who didn’t come out for club lacrosse last year, they are experiencing all those growing pains while in the competitive nature of a varsity sport.
“It’s a fun mix. It’s interesting,” he continued. “I’m glad they through me into the fire. We’re just trying to keep these kids in the right mindset. We’re not a program that is supposed to win — we have four kids who know what they are doing. So the fact that we won (two games so far) will help with their confidence, but my goal this year is just to expose them to competitive lacrosse and show them that they are capable of doing it. Within the next couple of years, hopefully we’ll start stacking some wins. It’s a credit to the community that we have kids who are coachable and athletic.”
Blue Devils girls coach Tracy Angelozzi has been a lacrosse official for years, and the Cherokee graduate and former Rowan University two-time All-American said she’s thrilled to be able to start up Hammonton’s program.
“I was an official for the last 10 years, and every time I would walk onto the field I would be thinking to myself, ‘we’re missing out on an opportunity at Hammonton. We’re not tapping into our athletes.’ Last year, we introduced the sport as a club sport and had a good turnout, and this year we had 35 girls come out for the team,” she said. “We still have a lot of girls who are learning the fundamentals. Just like in basketball and softball, those little skills come by just practicing on your own. There’s a lot for us to unload on them with teaching the sport, there are a lot of rules and they have to know the positions. We started with the basics, with ground balls. You have to start with that and work your way up to throwing, catching. I basically teach the game from the standpoint of learning good defense because defense is more difficult to learn. Everyone has to play defense at some point, just like in basketball, so we have to be able to teach those fundamentals.”
Right now, players and coaches said they are not fixated on the won/loss record, but rather celebrating the little victories that come along with starting a program from scratch.
“We had a big moment (recently) as our goalie (sophomore Aubrey Ellis) hit 100 saves. That was huge for us,” Angelozzi said. “Just seeing those small successes on the field — pretty much in every game there is some kind of teachable moment, or a rule we’re talking about during a timeout or during halftime. I’m excited for next year, too, because just getting this first year under our belts is super important.”
“It was just something new coming to the school and I thought, ‘why not?’ I had a bunch of friends who were like, ‘hey, let’s try this.’ And we’ve grown to love the game. It’s very similar to hockey in how the ball moves, how you cycle it around trying to get the best shot, and not just have a shot. Being an open-field sport, you don’t have the boards to rely on to bounce the ball off of, but you get to move a lot more with the ball,” said Zach Schaeffer, who grew up playing hockey. “The younger guys have been doing really well and I think they are picking it up faster than we did last year. I’m very impressed by the talent that is here and I can’t wait to see them grow. I want to get us on the map. Myself and the other seniors hope to build a strong foundation here, and hopefully come back (to something bigger) and give back in the future.”
Added fellow senior Carmen Dych, a football player, “it’s been amazing. We’ve really grown from last year, starting out as a club sport. We had an intersquad scrimmage last year to end the season, and that was a lot of fun, but this year we’re actually playing different teams. It’s eye-opening and we’re all learning a lot. We’ve always had a great mindset, no matter what the outcome is. It’s like ‘Lacrosse IQ.’ This is a very mental game. The physical side is easy — it’s easy to hit kids, right? But knowing what to do and how to play is definitely a learning curve. But we have great team chemistry. We come together during practice and build each other up, which is fun to see.”
Building each other up is going to be key this spring, the coaches said, because a lot of these athletes come from very successful sports and aren’t used to losing a lot of games. It’s testing their mental fortitude.
“When you come out and are trying a new sports, I tell them that losing is going to test your character,” Angelozzi said. “These are life lessons that are going to last beyond high school. I want to help develop these girls into leaders, and those kinds of values are important to me. I hope at the end of this season we’re getting girls back and that we don’t have girls who just give up.”
“It’s a really good program. There’s a lot of diversity on the team, and with this being the first year we’re kind of trail blazing,” said senior Zachary Goehringer. “We’re setting a strong foundation for the years to come. A good mix of kids are from hockey, so about half the team knew each other, but last year it was a lot of meeting new people. It’s really good for the school. They are introducing more sports, and hopefully (the administration) will keep doing great things.
“Our goal this year is to just keep our heads high and set up something that will last a lifetime and be a part of this school’s history.”
Prendergast tries to remind his players what a great opportunity they are experiencing right now, and how he’d give anything to be in their shoes.
“They understand their situation, and it’s really cool to see them settle into building something,” he said. “We don’t need to try too hard, we just need to compete and give effort and everything else will come. I think they are enjoying watching the other teams because they see what they can be capable of and it gives them something to work toward. Overall, they have really good heads on their shoulders. After an 18-3 loss and a 15-6 loss (to start the year) you would think most of these kids would have checked out, but they are hungry to keep coming back to practice and working on the things they’re not good at.”
