Lacrosse came to Norton High School this year and for a brand new team they exceeded expectations. With a 4-14 record, which might not seem that impressive, it was not a bad finish for a new team with a minimal amount of players to choose from. Their first win came against Metro Lacrosse on April 13, 2015 under the lights at Adams Field, Norton High School. This win was most likely the biggest of the season considering it was the whole programs first win ever. You would have to think that a new team would get maybe one or two wins which is why four is a great achievement.
On April 14, 2015 Norton High School got a vital win over Metro with a 9-2 victory. Sophomore Andrew Raneri netted a remarkable 6 goals for Norton. Captains Luke Kane and John-Michael Lee each scored a goal. Also, Freshman Joe Weber got a goal of his own. Out of 13 shots on the Norton goal, sophomore Nick Joyce saved an astounding 11. Jake Palin, also a sophomore, picked up three assists over the course of the game. In reality mostly every stat you would want was in favor of Norton. Saves, assists, face-off wins, shots, it was a rough game overall for metro and a great game for the Lancers.
Joe Weber, a freshman, started on varsity every game of the season for the Lancers. Number 13 was a defender and a long-stick middie who provided solid play all around all season long for the Lancers. Weber mainly contributed by facilitating the offense getting many assists all season long. It seems unbelievable that a player so young did this well going up against much larger and faster players. Based on his performance, it is no question at all that he can compete at this level. He proved this much earlier than most might know. As just a seventh grader, Joe was already playing on varsity lacrosse teams which is impressive for a freshman, let alone a seventh grader. For such a young player he shows a bright future for NHS lacrosse.
A 4-14 record might not seem like that much, but for a brand new team this shows a bright future for the Lancers. With so many young players playing on varsity, there is so much potential to be found within this team. If these freshman and sophomores stick with it for all four years at a challenging level for them, the room for improvement is endless. They might not have a winning record for a few years, but the future shows great things with the performance from the team this season. After a few years, the team will eventually gain more experience and support which will ultimately lead to a good season. As of the beginning of the 2014 school year, there were no definite answers if there was going to be a Norton High School lacrosse team. By the time spring sports began, lacrosse was an official program for Norton. The team was a great idea and hopefully it goes on to be a winning program.
As for Weber, he has shown leadership traits that will likely lead to him being a captain in the future. Almost acting as a captain this year, it is nearly inevitable that he will be one in the next few years. His great talent and hard work are certain traits all captains possess for the most part. As of now, he may be too inexperienced in the high school sports environment to lead a team yet. It also might be too early to call him a future MVP for the team this early, but there is great evidence that he could be the team's best player. With experience he will be ready for this team to be his very soon.
Before this season started, there were a lot of questions on who the coach was, how they would do, and a lot of speculation if the season would even happen. Coach Mark Notz made a strong statement at the team's first meeting before the season began, "This season is not about wins, it's about improving." If this was the team's goal then they accomplished it and then some. Getting better is exactly what they did. Going from a team where half of the players hadn't even picked up a lacrosse stick in their whole life, to a team that was a good match for almost every game they played in is a great leap. One would have to imagine that the 4-14 record this team recorded will only get better year-in and year-out. We can only find out next year when the season actually gets underway.
Intro needs a lot of work--avoid evaluative language like "pretty well" "not too bad" "so much bigger than it is"
ReplyDeleteIntro should use positive wording and this doesn't mean to praise the team. Address the 5Ws and the H in non-biased, non-evaluative, non-praise language--seems difficult but it is doable.
Don't need to say "only a freshmen"--this is merely his grade and many freshmen start on varsity programs. You don't want to devalue the program by implying that because it has freshmen starting.
Instead of using "a lot" use the word "many" or state the specific number assists that Weber had. Also, don't use "crazy" or "great"--evaluative words.
What do you mean "the team was a great idea"?
If you introduce a quote beforehand, you need to put a comma before the quote.
With revision, article is on the right track.
Grade: 85/100