WINSLOW — The goals were simple for the Winslow boys and girls lacrosse teams as they began their first seasons as varsity programs: Finish with more wins than losses and make the playoffs.
Both squads have already assured that will happen this spring, yet as each group of Black Raiders readies to travel for quarterfinal playoff games Wednesday, they are looking to make one more push in their already successful debuts.
“We’ve heard lots of things about (Freeport),” said senior Mackenzie Winslow, who will help lead the fifth-seeded Winslow girls (7-5) into their Eastern B playoff contest at 4 p.m. at the No. 4 Falcons (6-6). “It’s definitely going to be a tough game, but I think if we set our mind to it and set ourselves some goals for the game, I think we should be OK.”
The seventh-seeded Winslow boys (9-3), meanwhile, will have an even more daunting task as they travel to take on No. 2 Yarmouth (9-3), also at 4 p.m.
“The comparisons end where we’re both 9-3. That’s about it,” Winslow coach Bruce Lambrecht said. “We’re well aware of the size of the task at hand. We’re going to be patient, work the ball and just try to be proactive instead of reactive to what they throw at us.
“They’re very well coached, very well experienced (and) they’re very deep. We have a few big points we’re going to work on for the game, but with only a few days to practice obviously we can’t do everything we really want to work on. I think it will be fun regardless.”
Each team will be underdogs heading into their respective playoff games, though, that is nothing new for either of them. Members of both the boys and girls teams noted they have felt like they were overlooked by their competition at times this season.
“It seems that (some teams) don’t really seem to take us seriously,” Jimmy Fowler, a junior on the Winslow boys team, said. “Other teams like our caliber, Lawrence, Mt. Blue, Erskine, they’ll take us seriously but some of the other programs that have had a team for a while they’re like, ‘oh, Winslow, they’re a first-year, no big deal.'”
“You can tell by the way they warm up,” echoed Winslow. “They’re not really into it and then they get on the field and realize they need to focus because we’re not an easy team to play.”
Of course, that was always going to come with the territory of being a first-year, varsity program. The Black Raiders are the only two of the five area teams that made the jump from club to varsity at the beginning of this season to make the playoffs, yet both Winslow squads still have plenty to prove when it comes to standing alongside some of the more-established programs in Eastern B.
The Winslow boys may have gone 9-3 during the regular season, but none of those nine wins came against a team with a winning record and only one came against a playoff team, St. Dominic (5-7). The Black Raider girls scored a win over Sanford (6-6 Western A) earlier this season, yet also went 0-3 against the two teams that finished ahead of them in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B standings — Morse and Oceanside — and did not play Gardiner.
“Nobody wants to lose to a first-year program. It’s all, ‘welcome to the club, but we’re going to make you earn every point, every goal.’ That’s fine, that’s the way it should be,” Lambrecht said. “You can’t call yourself the best unless you’ve beaten the best and we certainly want to play the best and learn from every experience, because most of my kids have never been through really competitive lacrosse.”
Both Lambrecht and Winslow girls coach Sean Carey noted their teams have exceeded their expectations from the start of the season, yet they still have a ways to go to get to the next level. Even if neither of the Black Raiders make it past Wednesday, the groundwork has been laid for future success.
“(I’m) very excited for these kids, they’ve worked hard. It means a lot (to make the playoffs) but I think it will mean more once it’s over,” Lambrecht said. “I think now they don’t know what to make of it. I think it needs to be in the rear-view mirror and they can say, ‘wow, we made the playoffs for the first year. It was pretty impressive.’ There are a lot of good schools out there, a lot of storied programs. We’re just hoping that we can compete more next year.
“It might be too early to say I’m looking forward to next year, but I’m really looking forward to next year too.”
Evan Crawley — 621-5640
Ecrawley@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @Evan_Crawley
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