Spring sports are back again, which means the John Jay Men’s Lacrosse team is back and determined.  The team has been putting in tremendous hours of offseason work, both newcomers and returners, in order to get in shape for the season. Last year, the Indians fell just short to the Cornhuskers of Yorktown in a brutal 8-5 loss in the Section 1 Class B Finals.  This loss only made the 2017 season more important to John Jay.

The Indians lost seven seniors last year, but have a strong returning core of sixteen players.  The Indian’s defense is very experienced, led by goaltender Shahe Katchadurian, a Syracuse University commit.  The rest of the defense is comprised of several experienced junior defensemen, including Braden Burke (Duke), Thor Adamec (Colgate), Dan Johnston (Marist) and Isaiah Rust.  The defense also includes the newcomers of George McMichael and Tommy Feinstein.  At the midfield, the Indians lost last year’s senior Captains, Hunter Keech and Matt Lupinacci, who were key players in the functionality of the offense.  However, the team returns Tommy Beeby (Delaware), Jack Gorman (Fairfield), Dean Ford, Kyle Boera and Mark Machado.  The Indians attack, however, does not take any damage as they return every member.  The attack consists of seniors Jackson Rieger (Binghamton) and Josh Rubin, who frontlined the Indians scoring last year,  as well as Bryce Ford and Michael Minard.  The strong attack unit is fortified by the new lacrosse lettermen Charlie Horan and Daniel Esposito.

The Indians have one of the toughest schedules the school has ever seen this year.  The Indians start off the season playing against Manhasset, a powerhouse out of Long Island, who is currently ranked 16th in the country by Inside Lacrosse.  The Indians next game is also against a strong Long Island team out of Smithtown East who is ranked 7th in the country by Inside Lacrosse.  The team also added another top 20 team in Cold Spring Harbor who is currently ranked 20th in the country according to Inside Lacrosse.  The Indians will also play a tough Ridgefield team, after not playing them in the regular season for the past couple years.  Finally, the Indians play their cross-town rival in Yorktown on April 15.  Although the schedule is difficult, the players say that they are up for the task.