By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Xaverian varsity lacrosse recently had three of its members recognized for their efforts throughout the the 2021 season.
Senior Ithaca-bound attack-man Jack Pastore, junior Fairfield-committed attack-man Jake Gilbert and junior LSM Matt Haughey were named Catholic Conference All-Stars.
Thanks to the efforts of Pastore and Gilbert on offense, as well as Haughey leading Xaverian's revamped defensive unit, the Hawks rebounded from an 0-3 start to finish the regular season at 6-6 and earn the No. 14 seed in the Division I South playoffs. Ultimately, Xaverian fell to Bay State Conference champ and No. 3 Needham in the opening round by a final of 12-9. Nevertheless, after the way Xaverian began the year, simply making it to the postseason was an accomplishment of its own.
"These three guys really gave everything they had to our program this year," said head coach Daggett Morse about his three all-stars. "We obviously did not finish the season where we had hoped but there were a lot of positive takeaways. I thought we improved every game. At the beginning of the season, BC High and St. John's Prep really took it to us. By the time we saw BC and Prep again towards the end of the season, I thought we really grew as a team and it showed as we hung tight with both of them [9-7 defeat to BC, 15-12 defeat to SJP]. We didn't come away with the wins, but I think those two games showed our guys that they are right there with the two teams who ended up meeting for the Division I state championship. We are hoping that breeds confidence heading into next year, and with Matt and Jake returning, I'm confident they'll use this 2021 season as motivation to lead our team strongly as seniors."
For funny and incisive sports analysis as well as video highlights of games, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter and Instagram handles @flano0.
