Foundation’s new lax team picks up first win

There are a lot of firsts that come with starting a new program.

The first team, the first goal and the first game are among a laundry list of firsts. But often, it’s the first win that comes with the most anxiety and excitement, said Foundation Academy head lacrosse coach Victor Rodriguez.

The buildup to the win can be a lot, and it’s best to just get it out of the way. Luckily for the Lions’ first-year boys lacrosse program, it happened quickly. The Lions took out Discovery High School 10-8 in what happened to also be the first home game in school history Friday, Feb. 21.

“I’m ecstatic — I knew we had to win this game, because even though the boys did good on Monday, there is nothing like having that win going into the week,” Rodriguez said. “I’m proud of them, I’m excited for them and now that we have this win we’re looking to roll into another one.”

That first game was the 22-10 defeat the Lions suffered Monday, Feb. 17, against Winter Haven High School. Despite the loss in their first game, the Lions saw four different players score and a six-goal night from Sam Zagame.

But last Friday,  it was all about the Lions. They stormed out to a 7-3 lead they never relinquished — despite a late run by the Spartans.

“It’s cool that it’s the first one for the school,” said Zagame, who scored four goals and handed out two assists on the night. “To be a part of that is pretty cool.”

Helping Zagame was Travis Hutchison (three goals), Jimmy George (two) and Jacob Graziotti (one).

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Coming into this first year, Rodriguez knew he would not be working with a lot of experience — though that may be a bit of an understatement.

Out of those on the team’s 20-man roster, 14 are either in the eighth or ninth grade and have zero experience playing high school lacrosse. One player starting the game fresh is Graziotti who — before picking up a lacrosse stick just a couple of weeks ago — joined the team after his father asked him to give it a shot. So far, it has been a good experience, he said.

“I used to play hockey, so it’s kind of similar, but after practice, I can see the progress — it’s pretty fun,” Graziotti said. “In hockey, you’re able to roam wherever you want, so it’s kind of hard to get used to staying in that box — sometimes coming out, sometimes not — but besides that it is pretty similar.”

Tryouts and the first practices for the team were just two weeks ago, and with a team so young, Rodriguez has focused on the basics — including the rules, where players need to be on the field and how to pass correctly.

“The big thing is that we are focusing directly on all the fundamentals,” Rodriguez said. “My coaching style is focusing on fundamentals and the basics, and I plan on consistently doing that. But what I’m doing also is giving the kids just little bits at a time so they can chew on it and get it. … I’m sticking to one or two simple formations until they figure it all out.”

Although the youth make up a majority of the team, Rodriguez has a couple of players who do have experience out on the field. He looks to those guys — such as Zagame, who has played the game for years — to act as leaders.

“I have to help lead the team and help encourage them all — they’re doing really good, though, for their first year,” Zagame said. “Without them, I wouldn’t be able to score as much.”

And of all things going on with Rodriguez’s team right now, the youth are actually something of a tremendous positive in the long run, Rodriguez said. With a group of young players, he has guys with no bad habits and can instill his system without any hesitation.

There’s also having the ability to simply have guys stick around for years to help build a foundation, Rodriguez said.

“I only have one senior, so next year, I should be running pretty much the same team, with a few additions,” Rodriguez said. “In three years, a majority of my team will have played together on the varsity level for three years. The greatest thing about this — (because) we are a young team — the future is looking really bright for what we have out there.”