With their inaugural season at an end, the JV Howell United Warriors Lacrosse team, as of press time, have a record of 4-10, and have finished the JV Tournament. With these players now having the experience of lacrosse on the JV level, they’ll need to get ready for the varsity level, as the Howell United Warriors will have three teams competing next year, on the Freshman, JV and Varsity levels.

“I’m looking forward to it,” sophomore Chris St. Aubin said. “The play will be a lot faster and more intense, so we’ll need to be ready.”

This season, the team got off to a strong start, winning their first two games, with tightly contested victories over Westminister and Rockwood Summit. Yet, the team went on a losing streak after that, losing seven games in a row.

With many players getting hurt throughout the early part of the season, there were less subs for important games, such as the games against Eureka and John Burrows, where the lack of players could have impacted the team’s performance because the healthy players were fatigued.

“A difficult part of this season has been having to play with a shortage of players due to injuries on our team,” senior Matt Dempski said. “We have had a number of injuries this season, but our team always pulls through.”

This season, the team has faced numerous difficulties, with the most notable one being that the players come from different schools, as opposed to some of the other teams where all of the players come from the same school. Some of the more developed teams, such as Eureka and De Smet Jesuit, have beat the Warriors easier.

The Warriors have six players from FHN, with the rest of the players from FHC and FHHS. According to Dempski, this led the team to be very difficult to play with at first, though the team is much better than before.

Many of the players have developed friendships and have gotten to know each other better both on and off the field, even with the players going to different schools.

According to Dempski, the team has been successful because of hard work and strong play, even with the players being at different schools.

“I found no problem playing with boys from other schools,” Dempski said. “It was a little awkward at first, but we are all really great friends now.”

For other players, such as sophomore Taylor Watson, the players being from different schools was for the better because of the unique experience of playing with players from different schools. According to Watson, it wasn’t difficult adapting to being at a different school than his teammates and he’s enjoyed it.

“I don’t think the [players being at] different schools was difficult,” Taylor Watson said. “I thought it was cool because now I’m close to a lot of people from different schools.”

The team was looking to prepare for the varsity level by doing well in the playoffs, which took place on May 9-10. To see how they did, go to FHNGameday.com. How the team did in the playoffs will be used to see where the team is and what they need to improve on before next season, as they look to be the best team that they can be before making the transition to varsity.

“[They are difficult] because the playoffs are back to back against really good teams,” Watson said. “I feel the competition will be harder and more intense on varsity.”

Overall, the team seems confident with the varsity season ahead of them next year. Many of the players, according to Watson, are ready for the varsity game and the team should be able to transition successfully from JV to the more advanced, fast paced play of varsity.

“I think there are a lot of kids prepared for the varsity games next year,” Watson said. “I feel that the competition will be harder and more intense on varsity.”