Lacrosse will open its 2022 district season against John Paul II on March 31 at 7 p.m. at the McInnish Sports Complex in Carrollton. 

The team’s current season record is 3-2 in non-district games. 

“The first game was the most difficult,” head coach Brendan Carney said. “It was the most difficult because it was the first time we, as coaches, saw them play. There were just a lot of things we thought we were good at, [but didn’t know] that we weren’t, but we were able to fix them later.”

For the 2022 season, the Hebron and Denton Guyer teams have combined due to Guyer’s small number of players. The combined team plays under the Hebron name and has a total of 20 players. 

“Everybody was super nice and inviting when we got here, and that was not really what I was expecting — I didn’t really know what to expect,” Denton Guyer defense Caden Lohr said. “Last year, Denton played in the same district [as Hebron], so we’re very familiar with most of the teams [we’re playing this season].”

Following the team’s first game against Keller, which resulted in a loss of 19-16, lacrosse was on a three-game win streak. Their second game had the largest margin of victory, with a final score of 11-0. The average score for a lacrosse game falls between seven and nine points. 

“For Keller, we hadn’t really gotten used to [playing] together — especially with the Denton kids, also because there are a lot of new players this year,” defense Ryan Desen said. “It’s hard to [show] them what a game sense is like [solely through practices].”

The upcoming game against John Paul II will be the first of four district games. Lacrosse is in the Class D Varsity Division, which is determined by school size, team size and the team’s success rate.

“Communication [on the field] has for sure been better this year [compared to last year],” midfielder Gage Kirkwood said. “I think coach Carney has helped a lot with it. [He’s] made us more responsible.”

Since Lacrosse does not have a UIL competition, the team operates outside of school facilities. Games and tournaments are organized by the Texas High School Lacrosse League, and the sport is not sponsored by LISD.  Carney hopes to soon see a relationship with lacrosse and the LISD school district to help promote their student athletes. 

“There’s a lot more confidence [within our players],” Carney said. “One of the things we wanted to make sure [to do] when [the defensive coordinator and I] came over here was to let these guys know that they’re pretty good. They’re actually getting confident now, [and you can see] that with the scores.”

Following the team’s game against John Paul II, the next district game will be against Bishop Lynch on April 13. 

“[There’s] a lot more variety and players [this year],” Desen said. “We only had one defensive line, and they played for the entire game, [which is] tiring. The only variety we had was in attack, so we just had to pray that the attack could get their stuff done and the defense could hold out for the rest of the game. But this year, now that we have a lot of people, there’s a lot of variety between the defense and attack.”

In order to advance to playoffs, the team must win all three of its district games. The final district game will take place on April 19 against Trinity Valley School.

“I’m really proud of the way they’re playing right now,” Carney said “They’re excited, I’m excited for them and looking forward to getting into district play.”