Mamaroneck boys lacrosse enters season led by four seniors
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — 2023 will strike many as just another year, just another number.
But to the lacrosse seniors at Mamaroneck H.S., 2023 is much more than their graduation year, it has been their brand for a very long time.
In the quirky world of lacrosse, players from the moment they play competitively as youngsters are identified by their high school graduating year. Right now, the batch of 4th graders is referred to as the 鈥�2031鈥檚.鈥� Just as the freshmen are quite used to being 2026鈥檚. That number will be used for their team names and lacrosse identities again and again.
鈥淲e鈥檝e played on the same team since 3rd Grade. Us four plus even more seniors on this team. We were always 鈥榯he 2023鈥檚鈥�,鈥� states Andrew Glinski.
So while you the reader likely don鈥檛 view 2023 as all that special right now, the Mamaroneck seniors aim to make sure it鈥檚 becomes a number you won鈥檛 forget.
As Jack Ramsay puts it: 鈥渋t鈥檚 our year to shine and really want to show everyone what we got.鈥�
Mamaroneck High School has been a lacrosse powerhouse in recent years. They rank as one of the strongest teams in all of Section 1. They annually battle in the Class A sectional championship game in May, sometimes winning and sometimes losing (more on that below). Likely at least one, and sometimes two, players will be named an All-American each year. Multiple players will go on to play at college including prestigious schools at the both the D1 and D3 levels.
Spoiler alert: this season, the MHS Varsity Boys Lacrosse team is going to be very good and they are going to win a lot of games. They will also likely lose a few games against some excellent opponents, who range from Long Island to Westchester to Connecticut, but, overall, they are a very strong crew.
Some may feel the season will be defined by whether or not Mamaroneck can win the Section 1 title and advance to the NY State playoffs. Two years ago, the Tigers were upset in dramatic fashion in that game to a very game Scarsdale squad before thousands, none of whom will soon forget that evening. Then in 2022, in a game expected to be very tight, Scarsdale again took the crown in what ended up being a dominant showing.
Which brings us to 2023.
From an outsider鈥檚 perspective, the MHS Class of 2023 lax players have had impressive careers but also have endured painful ends to their Sophomore and Junior seasons. So the seemingly obvious question is: 鈥渨ill Mamaroneck slay the dragon that is Scarsdale and win the Section title?鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 not about one game. Our schedule is too difficult to focus on one opponent. We play so many good teams, we鈥檙e just trying to win one game at a time,鈥� says Henry Bennett. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see what happens in the playoffs and worry about that game at that time.鈥�
鈥淟ook, at the end of the day, we know Scarsdale and they know us. It鈥檚 a rivalry. No one is denying the rivalry,鈥� states Glinksi with clarity. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 ignore it. But we鈥檙e putting an emphasis on the next game. As our coach says, we want to be on an upward trajectory.鈥�
Perhaps focusing on Scarsdale and the Section crown means a bigger picture will be missed.
The Tigers are led by a quartet of senior co-captains: Andrew Glinski, Henry Bennett, Jack Ramsay and Rhett Chambers. These Four Horsemen (well, Tigers) are now fully in charge and they are intent on setting their own destinies this spring. They are all college commits, all football players, and all very familiar with one another. They, along with around half-a-dozen seniors on the team, have been playing since 1st grade in the well-known LMYL program.
鈥淲hen we were younger, we thought of our senior year. Now that it鈥檚 here, it feels surreal!鈥� exclaims Glinski.
Glinski is a dynamic lefty middie headed to Harvard, who carries speed, strength and smarts everywhere he goes on the field. Bennett is a muscled, disciplined defenseman who racked up All-State honors in football (he鈥檒l head to Gettysburg in the fall to play lax). Ramsay will play football at Cornell, and is somehow the fastest of the bunch despite being a punishingly strong midfielder. And Chambers is the lefty attackman who racks up points with savvy skills, and is off to Providence to play at the next level.
It鈥檚 impossible to list their lacrosse awards and pedigrees. Just trust that these four rightfully are in the spotlight.
Still, they are an accomplished bunch who don鈥檛 know how to explain how or why they succeed on the playing field. When pressed if they admit to being winners, they all deflect, stare at the ground, and want to field a different question. Certainly they are a modest bunch but modesty doesn鈥檛 explain it properly. These boys are wired to win but they don鈥檛 even know it.
鈥淲e like to compete together. We鈥檙e a tight-knit group. I can鈥檛 speak for other teams but we really enjoy being around one another, which worked in the fall for football and I think will extend into this spring,鈥� says Bennett.
Joining these named players is a sideline full of supporting talent, many of whom would be stars on opposing teams. Any given game, a fellow senior or underclassman will provide both highlights as well as stellar, unflashy plays. Most teams in Section 1 would kill for the depth that Mamaroneck Head Coach Barnard has fostered.
So what makes 2023 any different than 2022 or 2021? After all, those Mamaroneck teams were also stacked with talent and depth, who achieved wonderful things. The answer, at least in March, is a belief in themselves.
鈥淚 really believe my fellow seniors are pillars, they are character-shifters,鈥� proclaims Chambers with authority. 鈥淢aybe in the past there was ego involved with top players, but I genuinely believe everyone comes to practice to try hard and really buy into what the captains are pushing. We want there to be jokesters and fun personalities in the locker room but when we step on the field, it鈥檚 all business.鈥�
The boys lacrosse team at Mamaroneck High School is much more than four players. This year, one could argue the team is thinner and younger than in the recent past. If this season is going to be special, it is because these four captains are charging hard at the front. The Four Horsemen intend to leave their 2023 mark on Mamaroneck lacrosse permanently.
鈥淭his is a last hurrah, a last ride,鈥� Glinski throws out, staring straight ahead. 鈥淲e use that now as a reason not to be sad but as motivation to keep getting better and take the most of what we have left.鈥�
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