For the boys lacrosse team captain and goalie Finn Buckley ‘23, stepping into his senior season is something he’s been looking forward to, though it means saying his final goodbyes, he said. Buckley has been playing lacrosse since his freshman year. Even though his season got cut short due to COVID-19, the three years spent forming bonds with his teammates are moments he will never forget. 

“I love lacrosse because it takes everything out of you,” Buckley said. “You have to run so much and really lay everything out on the field, but that feeling after a win is just so great.”

The boys will have major shoes to fill as they’ve lost many key players to their team last year, according to fellow captain and attacker Christian Cho ‘23. However, Cho is confident the returning athletes will be eager to step up and bring new leadership to the team. 

Cho is walking into his second year on LT’s varsity roster, though it won’t be his first year as a varsity athlete. Transferring from Lockport High School, Cho played his freshman and sophomore year on varsity lacrosse and has been playing club lacrosse since fifth grade.

“I’m gonna miss lacing up my cleats everyday and getting ready for practice,” Cho said. “I love the thrill of winning and the disappointment of losing, and the people it helped me meet throughout high school.”

Cho wasn’t the only new face last season, as the team welcomed returning head coach William Kalbfleisch. Kalbfleisch, with over five decades of experience behind him, is a great fit for the team and values hard work and toughness, according to Buckley. 

“With the change in coaching came a change in our style of play and atmosphere at practice,” defender Will Glimco ‘23 said. “There are definitely both pros and cons with the change, but I think all the pros will help us make a good playoff run.”

Glimco is another team captain who started lacrosse in seventh grade and has been on LT’s varsity team since his freshman year. Though he is currently between schools, Glimco is certain he wants his lacrosse career to continue in college. He has a unique passion for the game and feels that it’s an outlet and an escape from his worries, he said. Though it will be challenging for the boys to replicate the previous season, ranking third in the Western Suburban (Silver) Conference, Glimco is ready to return even stronger this year.

“Last season we had a really good defense with a crazy ‘Man-Down’ percentage that was something around 80%,” he said. “I think this year we have an even better defense and we’ll be able to control and slow down the game with this.”

‘Man-Down Defense’ is when a team is playing down a player due to a penalty against their team, giving the offense a better chance of scoring. LT’s strong defense, carried into this year, will help the team grow and be more successful, according to varsity assistant coach Daniel Berg. This will also be Berg’s second year coaching the lacrosse team, though he has been teaching at LT for four years.

“We’re really focusing this year on playing good team lacrosse, and making sure that our team is putting forth their maximum effort no matter the game situation,” Berg said. “For us, this starts in practice with trying to keep the intensity level high every day.”

Berg was a part of the LT lacrosse team from 2010-2014 before he came back as a teacher, so saying goodbye to the seniors will be challenging for him, as he remembers what it felt like. 

“We have a great group of seniors this year both in terms of their lacrosse ability and who they are as individuals,” Berg said. “They’ll be missed by the whole coaching staff once everything is over, but we’re looking forward to a great season with them.”