Boys’ varsity lacrosse is ready to get back into a rhythm as their team comes back from injury. 

With four of their starters out, the team has struggled in league play, holding a record of 2-6. The Panthers faced off twice against rival Sequoia High School on March 24 and 25, with both games resulting in losses.

However, the boys are ready to bounce back with a rejuvenated team in their upcoming games. 

“I think the important thing is we’re finally getting a few players back from injury, which is allowing the chemistry to come back to where it used to be, but I think that that takes time, and we’re getting there,” head coach Ryan Bolanos said.

Before the Panthers had Bolanos as their head coach, the team didn’t have a consistent coaching staff.

“We had some problems with getting committed coaches and players with experience, and we lost a bunch of seniors,” said junior Archer Grenier, an attacker. “We’ve been playing a lot of catch-up.”

With a difficult year due to the pandemic, combined with losing experienced seniors, the team has had to step up to the challenge and fill in the gap left for them.

“I’d say we’re like a growing program; we got a lot of new kids,” Grenier said. “We’re shaping up to be a good team next year. We got a lot of growing players, but I think our varsity has got a lot of work to do, we’ve got a lot of potential.”

Though the team lost many experienced seniors, they retain many veteran players who have stepped up; multiple players once competed at the club level or currently do, such as Grenier who has played club for four years. 

The team is hopeful to continue their lacrosse season with sights set on winning more league games and improving the team as a whole.

“We want to not only build these guys on the field but also off the field,” assistant coach Garrett Lutz said. “We want to make sure that the guys who are younger are growing every day, every week, every practice, every game and growing not only on the field but off the field.”