This year, Hawthorne High School’s athletic program introduced lacrosse as a sport, and although it is still a young team, the players have made great progress so far and are looking to a strong season finish.

The team, which at this time is a junior varsity sport only,  currently has a record of 1-3-2, according to Jason Goldstein, the assistant coach. The team’s head coach is Ray Pych.

Throughout this inaugural season, Goldstein states that the players have made tremendous improvements. “About 80 percent of the team had never picked up a stick or played before,” Goldstein said, “but they learned to pass and throw, and now we’re running plays and scoring goals.”

Eli Zalazar, a junior at HHS, said, “I never even touched a lacrosse stick before the season started. I didn’t know any rules, positions; I couldn’t pass, catch or shoot either. However, with a lot of hard work and determination, I came a long way and it feels good seeing how much I’ve improved and that all my hard work has paid off.” He went on to explain how beneficial the coaches were in teaching the basics and helping the players move forward both individually and collectively.

Joe Wojtecki, a junior at HHS and another first-time lacrosse player, agreed, stated, “We’re definitely better than we were. We’ve all improved as a team.”

The Lacrosse team has two away games left in the season against Union City and Waldwick. In response to how the HHS lacrosse team will do in their last two games, Goldstein commented, “I’m optimistic.  We can definitely beat the other teams; we just have to put all our skills together.”

As for next year, Goldstein has high hopes. “We’re very proud that we have such big numbers [of players] because many teams don’t. We have to work to rotate so everyone can play. When we versed Westwood, they only had two subs, but we practically have two teams.” On another positive note for next year’s season, Goldstein said, “We’re not losing many players after this season and there are even more people looking to join, so we have a good foundation for next year.”

Both Wojtecki and Zalazar are among the players who plan on returning next year. Wojtecki expressed his love for the sport because of its fast pace and the team work involved. Zalazar stated, “I, without a doubt, will play next year. Learning a whole new sport with a whole new team was just too much fun for me not to do it one more time my senior year.” Zalazar mentioned that he has plans to play lacrosse in college and encouraged other HHS students to try out for the school’s team in future seasons.