Led by the Class of 2013, Boys' Lax has Another Impressive Season To End Long Bergofsky Era

Boys’ varsity lacrosse nished off the year with a strong 14-5 record, destroying Andover 7-3 in their nal game. After last year’s highly successful season, many important players graduated, leaving lots of new spots for returners and newcomers to ll. With a roster of 34 players, more than 15 of whom were new, the team set out to emulate the intensity and talent for which the program is known. They succeeded in this venture, properly sending off head coach Eric Bergofsky, who will retire from the position after a remarkable 36 years of coaching.At the beginning of the season, the immediate concern for Big Red was to replace those who had graduated. Essential to this were the returning players, as well as several of the new team members.“[Lower] Winston Smith and [senior co-captain] Chris Keat- ing did a great job at faceoff after Max Eberhart ‘12 graduated,” lower Tucker Lemos said. “[Senior] Christian Ayscue stepped up to ll in the spot of Luke Brugger at mid eld. Everyone on the team played an important role in replacing the players who we lost.”Seniors Keating, Forrest Corcoran, Matt Ryan, and Nick Weigel took the title of captains this season, leading the team not only in talent and experience, but also in bringing together individuals to form a cohesive team.“What I will remember most about their leadership will be the way they treated our youngest rookie players that consisted of six preps and four lowers,” Bergofsky said. “These captains took these guys under their wing, helped them become better players, worked with them individually during and after practice, and made them feel like they belonged as important members of the team.”Going into the season, Big Red rst played Bridgton Acad- emy, to whom they lost 4-6. Team members noted that at this point in the year they were not yet working as a cohesive unit, and therefore had dif culty against Bridgton’s well-formed plays. However, in their next game against St. Sebastian’s, Big Red put up a stronger performance and won 6-3. “We were playing against the team that went on to play for the ISL title,” assistant coach Bill Glennon, who will rise to the position of head coach next year, said. “We knew they would be good, we didn’t know how good they would be. Beating them was a quality win for us.”The next two games were losses, rst a 7-10 game against Taft, and then a closer 9-10 loss to Avon Old Farms. “Three of our ve losses occurred in the rst two weeks of the season, when we started out 1-3 and we were still guring out the best personnel combinations on offense,” Bergofsky said. “Everyone was still getting comfortable with their role on the team, and it took a fewweeks for the offense to gel.”Big Red went on to have a seven-game win streak, defeatingteams such as Cushing, Portsmouth Abbey and Loomis Chaffee with lopsided scores of 12-3, 19-3 and 12-5, respectively. High scoring became a signature of the team, and every game in the streak was won with scores in double digits.AdefeatatthehandsofBrewsterendedthestreak.Oneof their most dangerous opponents, Brewster is ranked 3rd in New England. Yet, Big Red held their own and put forth tremendous effort, resulting in a close nal score of 8-11. During this game, lower Michael Lackey suffered a season-ending concussion, greatly affecting the team dynamic due to his strength and consis- tency. In Lackey’s place, Corcoran and upper Nick duPont were able to help the team recover.Exeter was back to their previous success in the next game, however, destroying Tabor 11-0. This was a game marked not only by excellent goaltending, as evident in the shutout, but

Stefan Kohli/The ExonianStefan Kohli/The Exonian also by cohesive plays and a good team dynamic. “Our biggest improvement from the beginning of the season was ball move- ment,” Lemos said. “We developed a dodge-dodge-pass system that worked very well and we started to use it a lot more towards the end of the season. Eventually it helped us get close to Deer eldand beat Andover soundly.”The next three games were strong victories for Exeter, againstKUA, NMH and Winchendon. In each of these games, the players demonstrated a good work ethic and a exibility with one another as part of the whole. Both the offensive and defensive strategies that the team had been working on throughout the season were exhibited fully in all three games.“Initially, our offense was a bit stagnant and most of our goals came solely in transition,” Weigel said. “By the end of the season, after switching some players around and working hard, wedevelopedintoaverydangerousteamoffensively.Alotof guys stepped up. Our defense was solid all year. In some games, we had trouble getting stops but the zone D we put in late in the season really helped.”As it is every year, the game against Deer eld was the most highly anticipated besides E/a. Exeter has not beaten Deer eld in 21 years, and for the past several seasons the games have been strikingly close, with a loss in overtime last year. Big Red did not triumph this season, playing a very back and forth game; neither team had a full upper hand on the other until the nal quarter, in which Exeter could not respond to Deer eld’s scoring attack. The

game ended with a 12-10 loss for Exeter, however teammates and coaches agree that it was a good game.All the 15 seniors on the team were close to each other, and all 15 showed the other younger guys what it meant to work hard for a common goal and how to bond as a team. “Despite the loss, the team’s play in the 2nd half of the Deer eld game was perhaps our best lacrosse of the season,” Bergofsky said. “Deer eld is the #1 ranked team in all of New England and ranked #9 nationally (prep or high school). We outscored them 5-2 in the 2nd half and outplayed them in every phase of the game. It was a great effort that truly showed the heart and soul of the team as well as our incredible skill level.”FollowingtheDeer eldloss,BigRedhadadecisive14-8 victory over Holderness, re-establishing their dominance and boosting con dence for E/a. In this nal game, the boys’ kept up this con dence, ending the season with a 7-3 victory over their rivals. “The boys really wanted for me to end on a winning note,” Bergofsky said. “They played dominant lacrosse in the last game to make that happen.”Coach Bergofsky, though he will not be coaching next year, will continue to make an impact on the team and the players. Having coached at PEA for 36 years, Bergofsky has seen the team through a wide variety of seasons, and these past two years have accurately demonstrated his effect on the program. He is con dent, however, that the team will remain strong.“Coach Glennon and I have coached the team together for over twenty years, so I think the transition will be very smooth and seamless,” Bergofsky said. “I would like to think I will be missed out there, but once the season starts and the team gets down to the business of practicing every day and working hard to improve, the players will focus on the present and not the past. As far as legacy goes, I hope I will be remembered as someone who really cared about each and every player as an individual. The lacrosse program has a great tradition, going back to 1935, that I am proud to have been a part of. I have learned that it is not the wins and losses that ultimately matter or are important, but rather the relationships and friendships that are forged and maintained during and after one’s time with the team. I feel fortunate that I have so many of those friendships with current players, parents, and alumni that will last me a lifetime.”Not only will Bergofsky be missed, but so will the 15 graduating seniors. These losses will result in many roles for underclassmen to ll. “Next year's team on paper doesn't look as strong as this year’s,” Weigel said. “There are a lot of guys graduating to replace. Losing [lower Michael] Lackey at attack will be hard, as well. Guys will definitely step up however, and though it might be a rebuilding period early in the season, I think they'll see some success late in the season.” In particular, the loss of players such as Keating and Ryan, considered “two of Exeter’s all time greats” by Bergofsky, will be dif cult. Keating will be playing at Yale next year, and Ryan at Harvard.“We’re losing a lot of guys this year,” Lemos agreed, “but next year we have a strong rising upper and senior class and hopefully we should get some good recruits, so again we’ll be strong and maintain our dominance.”Despite a few close losses, especially early in the season, the team played well and maintained its reputation as one of the best in NewEngland.Nextyear’scaptains,uppersduPont,DavidAyscue and Curran Sullivan, have already demonstrated their capabilities on the eld and in the community, transitioning from quiet lead- ers of the underclassmen to effective captains and role models.“The season was terrific,”Bergofsky concluded.“Although our goal was to go undefeated, the incredibly tough competition and the quality of our schedule made that almost impossible. De- spite losing ve close games, I am proud to say that all ve losses were against excellent teams in which we battled hard.Amazingly, we were winning at some point in each of those ve games, and we were capable of beating any team in New England.”