The men’s lacrosse team at Independence is looking to improve upon their 4-12 season in 2016.  The goal is to reach .500 and pursue an opportunity for a winning season.  The Patriots will battle in a highly competitive conference with Charlotte Catholic and Audrey Kell as the top teams along with other good established programs.

The returning starters include seniors Zack Reutters, Cameron Redding, Brendan Martinez, Matthew Simcox, and Shiv Patel, who are expected to deliver and play a leadership role.  The remaining starter, who will return to the lineup is Dylan Barnett.  Other seniors who are expected to make valuable contributions are Dylan Connor, Trey Repak, and Jackson Pence.

There are many newcomers on the club, and most notably will be goalie Logan Weller.  He is a solid goal keeper with good instincts and is expected to strengthen the Patriots defense.

“The expectation for this season is to improve on previous season’s records and performance.  In the past, we have come very close to having wins that would bring the program to a new level. This year we are trying to not just come close, but to achieve those wins,” said Coach Andy Bernstein.

“We hope to shake things up this season within our conference.  We have good experience with our returning starters and seniors.  Our defense is improved, and we expect our offense to score.  We have many new pieces that will be very important this season in solving this puzzle.  We have a new starting goalie, a new staring face off specialist, along with new attackmen and a slightly different defense. If all the pieces come together, we can be a very good team that will surprise opponents,” said Coach Bernstein.

Overall, the boys are energetic, focused, committed, and are working hard in conjunction with the coaching staff.  As a team, they appear to have an extra stride in their step which can only generate confidence and teamwork going forward.