Hewlett seeks strong finish

Posted

Fresh off a promising victory last Friday against a tough Nassau boys’ lacrosse conference rival, Hewlett coach Jesse Corben said he hopes his team will parlay that momentum towards a strong finish.  

It was a much-needed win for the Bulldogs,who defeated Calhoun 12-8, snappinga four-game losing skid to pick up their first conference victory. But their overall 4-5 record (1-2 in Conference B) does not paint a complete picture of the team’s overall performance, their coach said, noting that in each of those four losses, Hewlett was either winning or tied in the fourth quarter.

“Our guys are playing with a lot of heart and they’re working very hard,” said Corben. Fourth quarters, he said, have been a problem, primarily due to a lack of roster depth that leads to uneven play in the latter stages of games. “We’re asking a lot from the guys that we have. They’re giving us everything they got.”

Even in the Bulldogs’ victory against Calhoun, in which they scored the game’s first seven goals, the team was outscored by four goals in the final quarter, making the game appear closer than it really was.

Still, Corben said his team did a fine job executing their game plan to put the game out of reach early and hopes for similar results in upcoming conference games this week against Mepham on Wednesday and Garden City on Friday.

While they have let a handful of close games slip away against teams like Farmingdale, Syosset, Carey and South Side, Corben said he’s learned a lot about his team’s toughness. “You’re talking about really good competitive programs and we were tied with everybody in the fourth quarter or had the lead," he said. “We’re 4-5 right now, but we’re one play away [in each game] from being 9-0.

The team has gotten a lift from two sophomores, midfielder Johnathan Miller and attackman Ryan May. On defense, senior Gavin Adler has been a major presence winning ground balls. “We call him a ground ball hawk,” Corben said. “If the ball is on the ground, he’s coming up with it.”

Another senior, attack/midfielder Alex Vardaro, has helped open the field with his playmaking ability by drawing defenders his way. “Other teams will game plan around him,” the coach said. “He’s face-guarded, double-teamed and sometimes triple-teamed every game. That’s how much attention he draws.”

Junior Sam Rovner leads the team in points, and their All-County goaltender Max May has made big saves all season long, said Corben, to keep them in tight games.

With five games remaining, all within their conference, the Bulldogs will look to improve their seeding as they head into the postseason. A major focus, Corben said, is to take pressure off their players late in games by increasing their time of possession earlier on.

“Every time we’re down, they’re fighting back,” he said. “We’ve fallen short a couple times, but we haven’t stopped working and we are trying to improve every single day.”