Lakers Lacrosse Hopes for Big Improvement

Alex Lauri has been waiting for two long years to play lacrosse with the team again. After his sophomore year, the midfielder took a year off from the sport to study abroad in Spain. Now that he’s back in Michigan, Lauri is ready to dominate as a Laker — after all, lacrosse is why he chose to go to WBHS in the first place.

“I’ve been playing lacrosse for seven or eight years. Before I was a freshman, I was debating between a couple of different high schools based on if they had a lacrosse program,” the Orchard Lake resident said after practice last week. “We were able to talk to the athletic director at WBHS about getting a team started up here, so that’s why I came on board .. we’re ready to do great things this season.”

The Lakers, now led by first-year coach Ed Anderson, have quite a turnaround in mind. After finishing 6-10 last season, Lauri said, coach Nevin Kanner quit. Kanner was replaced by Anderson, who was brought on board after playing as a captain on the University of Michigan club team that went undefeated in two seasons. Anderson said he is making progress in reversing the team’s bad habits.

“My sense when I took this job was that there were a lot of great athletes on this team who had an individual mindset,” Anderson said. “I’ve been trying to show them the value of playing together on offense and defense … It’s coming along nicely. They’re starting to say it, and then they see it and then they feel it. Frankly, there’s a lot of unknown variables right now, but we’ve got good players at every position.”

Lakers led by high-scoring seniors

The Lakers will have the inherent benefit of featuring plenty of upperclassmen on this year’s roster. In addition to Lauri, the team brings back senior attackers Nathan Rabens, who scored 57 goals last season, Zach Lederman, who scored 18 goals, and Michael Harnish, who totaled 10 assists. Looking ahead to the season’s opening tilt at Grosse Ile High School Wednesday, the Lakers are feeling confident.

“We’re going to surprise (Grosse Ile),” senior midfielder David Shipper said. “We’re going to give it to 'em. Our goal is to win every game … We’re just gelling right now on the field, and that’s because we’ve been out running every day since October. We want it this year. We want to improve.”

Lauri pointed to an improved attack and midfield as just cause for confidence. The Lakers scored 128 goals last season in comparison to the opposition’s 190 goals.

“We should see a lot of high-scoring games and I think we’ll win most of them,” he said. “It’s a sport that’s growing in popularity, so we hope to give fans something fun to see when they come out.”

Anderson confirmed the Lakers have the ability on the field to surprise their opponents. “We’re seeing a lot of progress and although we haven’t been out on the field together for too long, it’s going to grow as the season goes on,” he said. “I think we can give Grosse Ile a good scare.”

The game at Grosse Ile begins at 7 p.m.