Table of Contents
The Winchester High boys lacrosse team (2-1) was the tenth seed in the final Division 1 power rankings last spring. They ended the regular season with a 15-3 record, and were 1-1 in the postseason, where they beat rival Arlington in the Round of 32, 13-3, before losing to Needham in the Sweet 16, 9-6.
But head coach Phil Reuland, who has been in charge of the program since 2020, and his Red & Black squad are now looking ahead to another winning season, while hoping to go deeper in the state tournament.
Reuland certainly has plenty of help along the sidelines to prep the team properly for the games. Michael Armstrong is his offensive coordinator, while Peter Troiano takes care of the defense. Will Sobo is the goalie coach, and Sean Holland is the faceoff mentor. Charlie Kacamburus and Brendan Kelley are the JV coaches.
Goalie Adam Rauseo and attackman Chris McCarthy are the team’s captains.
Reuland has been pleased with the effort so far. “The kids are working hard, and both of our captains have shown great leadership on and off the field to get their teammates (on the same page),” he said.
The Winchester boys have already played three games. They opened up against non-league BC High, and lost, 16-6 on March 29. But they bounced back nicely to win their next two games against Middlesex League rivals Wilmington (16-1, April 1) and Stoneham (17-2, April 3).
“We played hard against an extremely talented BC High team,” said Reuland afterwards.
Junior midfielder Ted Budreski was credited with a goal and two assists in this game, while attackman Will Mango, Budreski’s classmate, paced the offensive attack with two scores.
Reuland is not afraid of playing powerhouses to get his team ready for the state tournament. “We play an incredibly difficult regular season schedule against the likes of BC High, Reading, Lincoln-Sudbury, Longmeadow, Hingham, Medfield, Andover, Wellesley, Burlington and Lexington, as well as out of state opponent St. Joseph’s of Metuchen, N.J. (April 19 at Boston University, 10 a.m.),” he said. These games will serve them well when the calendar flips to June, and the postseason is underway.
After the win over Stoneham, the Red & Black are off until April 9, when they take on visiting Melrose at Knowlton Stadium, starting at 4:30 p.m. They will be at Arlington two days later to play the Spy Ponders at the same time to close out the week.
