Lacrosse Players Prepare for Upcoming Season

Each year sports at The Prep teams take a hit in the form of graduating several crucial senior athletes. Then begins the long off season in preparation to reap the benefits each Fall. Lacrosse is a sport that helps to mold young men into who they will become. The self-discipline it takes to hit the wall after a tough day of shooting builds the players on and off the field. It takes confidence to put on pads and then go out and give it four quarters.. The team goes out on the field and knows their teammates will have their backs. After many seniors graduated and moved on, the 2023 Seton Hall Prep lacrosse program is preparing for another great season. Losing sixteen seniors is big and having only twenty returning players results in slim numbers for the Pirates. Several underclassmen have big shoes to fill as they’re working in the offseason for their names to be checked on the day of tryouts.  

There are three Pirates that are returning and want to share a piece of advice for incoming players.

Senior Matt Pepe ’23, attackman, states, “We have high expectations for this year like we always do and a lot of new roles to fill, but I am confident in the guys we have and our willingness to get better each day.” Pepe is offering words and ideas that he wishes he had heard when he first started with SHP: “Just to have the support of an upperclassman could be enough to motivate some freshman to work a little bit harder.”  Nolan Sable ’25 offered some words in an attempt to instill discipline in the underclassman: “For the incoming players working for a spot, just work and play as hard as you can. Effort is all coaches want.”

Sable says, “If you want to compete on this team, you’re going to have to make it a must to be the hardest working person on that field.”

Shawn Lyght ’25 offered a little advice on how to prepare to be a part of the program: “We get after it at practice. We are always competing. Offense and defense push each other to be better. Something to keep in mind is conditioning. We play with a fast tempo, and you must be able to keep up.” 

Returning Pirates are all working as just hard as the next guy on this team. The team gets after it during lifts and the captain practices throughout the week. They seem confident about how the upcoming 2023 season is going to go. They are dedicated to their work. 

Let’s look at how captain Lyght  is getting ready during the offseason. Lyght exclaims, “We are getting better in the offseason by having two lifts a week as a team. These lifts will help us be bigger, stronger and faster during the season. Also, by lifting together (sophomores, juniors and seniors) we are building camaraderie and supporting each other when sets are hard. The boys show up for captain practices and put in the work it takes to be great. We are working on hands and ball control while we get better at communicating with one another on and off the field. By doing simple drills that keep us sharp during the offseason, it makes it easier to transition back to competition.”

Sable claims, “I often always have my stick in my hand in the off-season, and I also make it a priority to get in the weight room during the off-season.”

Sable does this offseason work because he has a disciplined work ethic that shows he wants to be the best.

A final thought comes from attackman Pepe: “We have been working hard in the weight room specifically. Coach Durning has been pushing us hard with an organized plan that gets us stronger every week.”

Pepe understands Coach knows what is best for us. The Pirates are willing to put in the work to play their best in order to get after it for the season. In closing, the Pirates are working hard during the off season and are sure to get after it in the 2023 season. With them having these lifts twice a week and these captain practices, it looks like they will start off the season hot.  As far as I can tell they have a great roster on and off the field and are going to do great in their season.