Northwestern will begin its first season in lacrosse, as the Tigers will field both a boys and girls varsity team this spring.

The Pleasant Valley girls, meanwhile, reached the district playoffs last year and hope to build on their success.

BOYS

PLEASANT VALLEY

ECLIPSING THE SIX-WIN MARK

… Bears head coach Vin Arezzi talked about hoping to win more than six games in the program’s young history. “We’re still looking to crest that six-win cap,” Arezzi said. “That’s been our best season. This team definitely has the teamwork to do it. What we have to see is if we have the depth. We have a small roster this year. I’ve got 17 guys total on the roster, the first time we’ve been under 20 ever. It’s going to be a stretch to get conditioned and be ready for some of the big games. The pinnacle for us is trying to eclipse a six-win season.”

LOOKING FOR MORE

… The 2018 Bears finished the season 5-13 and Arezzi believes his team come have done better. “Last season, I think we underperformed a little,” Arezzi said. “We had a large group of seniors. Our expectations were pretty high coming in. They never kind of gelled as a team. We weren’t able to get rolling out of the gate. This year, we’re focusing a lot more on team-bonding.”

MAKING PROGRESS

... “I feel like we made some great progress the first two years and then we started to get where we didn’t get as many freshmen in as we were graduating seniors,” Arezzi said. “We think this year is a rebuilding of the culture, having graduated seven guys. We’re expecting somewhere between 10 and 15 freshmen next year, based on what we’re seeing at our youth program. That looks to be where we can make a big stride forward in the next four years, as those guys become varsity-ready.”

LET’S WORK TOGETHER

… “We’re trying to make sure everyone is working together really well,” Arezzi said. “Teamwork is going to be a key component. We have a much slower team this year. We graduated seven guys and we only brought in two from our youth program, so we weren’t able to replace all the talent we lost and we have a much younger team this year. We have a lot of sophomores on it.” Some of the sophomores include Mason DeMeglio, Laz Garica, Ryan Kajetski and Jack Kaye, who served as the Bears kicker for the football team. Wrestler Chris Tartamella will also be on the roster.

LEADERSHIP

… Seniors Doug Haines and Patrick Miller will lead the way for the young Pleasant Valley team. Miller becomes the first four-year varsity player for PV. Haines has been a three-year starter and is a key defender for the team.

MATCHUPS

... Arezzi discussed some of the key matchups his Bears squad will face this season. “Some of the matches we really like are in our division,” Arezzi said. “We like playing both the Bethlehem schools in Liberty and Freedom. Northampton’s become a good rivalry for us because they started around the same time and they’re doing tremendous things to their program, so they’re right on our level. We played some close games last year. We had a couple of one-goal games, so we like to play them.”

NORTHWESTERN

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

… This will be the first season for the Northwestern boys lacrosse team, and their head coach will be Marcus Janda. The support has been tremendous for the school’s inception into the lacrosse ranks. “It’s been unbelievable,” Janda said about the support. “I’ve coached at a couple of different high schools. It’s been some of the most support I’ve ever seen from an administration. Our athletic director, Jason Zimmerman, has been unbelievable to work with. The school and youth program have supported us. There’s a buzz in the school and community.”

JANDA ON NEW PROGRAM

… “This is all brand new at the school. Previously, I’ve been the offensive coordinator over at Parkland. I’ve been doing that for the last five years and the Northwestern job opened up. I live in the district, so I went for it. Practices have been certainly going well. The nice thing about Northwestern is they started a youth program about six years ago, so I have a number of guys on my team that have experience. At the same time, there’s no legitimate high-school experience, so there’s still a learning curve. I’m not starting from Ground One here. Mother Nature has cooperated with us so we’ve been out all week.”

STARTING FRESH NOTHING NEW

… This won’t be the first time Janda headed a new lacrosse program for a school. He led Scranton Prep in its inaugural season in 2013 and didn’t set any win-or-loss totals for the first go-around at Northwestern. “It’s tough to put a number on wins and losses, but I’ve been a coach in the area so I have an idea of what kind of competition we’re playing, what the level is,” Janda said. “I expect to compete in every single game and I would say that is really my goal ... I don’t have expectations. I just want us to go out there and play hard. I expect to be competing in every single game, every single day.”

OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS

... Seniors Cole Norman and junior midfielder Zach Rosamalia were named as the first captains for the inaugural Tigers season. Zach Anderson joins Norman in the senior class. Norman has some experience, having played a few years. Underclassmen Taylor Weikert and Reid Conrey are also two other players to keep an eye on.

SCHEDULE

… Northwestern will face Colonial League schools such as Saucon Valley, Moravian Academy and Southern Lehigh this schedule. There isn’t a formed Colonial League in lacrosse yet, but Janda is focused on those teams.

GIRLS

PLEASANT VALLEY

MAKING IT TO DISTRICTS

… Pleasant Valley made it to districts last season for the first time since their inception. Pleasant Valley lost 12-9 to Freedom, but made a lot of progress for the young program. Head coach Toni Bush talked about wanting to go back to districts again this season. “We set our team goals this year,” Bush said. “Once again, the girls want to go to districts and keep improving year-to-year. As far as the offseason goes, we worked in the fall and entered some tournaments. We did a winter league and lots of strength and conditioning because we have a really small team. The girls worked really hard and they realized that they have to work harder than other teams because we don’t have many substitutes. This year, they know what they need to do. They know what’s expected of them, and they’re ready for it.”

LIGHT ON NUMBERS

… Bush’s squad will be light on numbers this season, but the team has a lot of promise. The Bears finished 10-7 in 2018 with a trip to districts. “We’re very light on numbers and have a young team,” Bush said. “We had seven healthy seniors that graduated last year. I’d say about two-thirds of our starting lineup are underclassmen on varsity this year. We’re a very young team, but have a lot of promise. I was really happy with last season,” Bush said. “That was one of our team goals — to make it to districts. Except for being a young program, we were really excited about that.”

NAZARETH, NAZARETH, NAZARETH

… One of the key matchups again for Pleasant Valley will be against Nazareth. The Bears lost a 13-12 play-in game with the Blue Eagles to determine the division title. “Nazareth is always a good matchup,” Bush said. “Nazareth is in the same division as us, so we’re trying to fight for that division title. We were neck-and-neck last year. It came down to a coin-toss and a play-in game for who won our division last year. We lost a tight match. Nazareth is always a very exciting game, so that should be a good matchup.”

TOP PERFORMERS

… Junior Juliana Lopez was the leading scorer in the conference last season with 76 goals. Lopez returns along with goalie Danni Reino. Defender Teagan Angell is another upper-classman on the squad, as is senior Keara Dugey. Most of this year’s squad features freshmen and sophomores. Freshman midfielders Alexandra Bush and Hayle Stintsman will be players to keep an eye on during the season.

MAKING A NAME FOR THEMSELVES

… Lacrosse is still fairly new to the Poconos, as Pleasant Valley only has four seasons under its belt. Bush expects the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference to be strong this year. “Every year, you never know what you’re going to get with whose graduating seniors,” Bush said. “There are always teams that are consistently strongest in the conference, but I’m just hoping that we can start to work our way up the ranks and make a name for ourselves. It’s still a pretty new program. It’s hard up here in the Poconos because there are no other schools with lacrosse around the area. Lacrosse is kind of a new thing up here, but we’re getting there. We’re excited. The girls are just so excited to get the season started.”

NORTHWESTERN

FAMILIAR FACE

... Lissa Opolsky has coached the Northwestern field hockey team for five seasons. But she’ll take on a new challenge this spring with another Tiger program. “It is an honor to be the first coach,” Opolsky said. “I am looking forward to seeing what the team can do and the progress we can make in a short amount of time. We are hoping to be competitive and have fun. We want to build something the community can be proud of, and in the future many girls can take advantage of.”

EXPERIENCED AND INEXPERIENCED

... Of the 40 players listed on the roster, a number have played for the NYAA (Northwestern Youth Athletic Association), so there is experience with the sport for some of these players. Others will be picking up a stick for the first time. “Having a group of students who have had experience playing at a high level has been great,” Opolsky said. “They understand the expectations, they embrace the hard days and continue to work to better themselves and their team. Although we are just beginning the program, we are hoping the experience of our youth program will help us compete with some of the teams in the area.”

ATHLETIC PLAYERS

... There is a solid mix of athletes who have played other sports at Northwestern. There are 14 players who played field hockey this past fall, while 11 played soccer and five ran cross country.

KEY PLAYERS

... With many new players and a first-year head coach, many positions are up for grabs as the Tigers progress through each practice. While exact positions may not be set in stone yet, Opolsky has identified a number of potential impact players: Emilee Schultz, Sarah Schultz, Ali Lister, Tess Ledeboer, Charlotte Horn, Lauren Schellhamer, Bailey Scheffler, Lexi Bleam and Reagan Hernandez. “We want to work hard to get better each and every day,” Opolsky said. “It is our hope to gain a better understanding of the game, compete each moment, and put our best effort forward.”

LOOKING AT THE SCHEDULE

... Northwestern will compete against fellow Colonial League schools such as Saucon Valley, Southern Lehigh and Moravian Academy, but the conference does not have a set league for lacrosse just yet. The Tigers will also face EPC foes such as Easton, Nazareth, Liberty, Northampton, Pleasant Valley, Central Catholic and Freedom.