Madison boys' lacrosse off to hot start

In the boys' lacrosse season opener on March 12, the Patriot Pioneers scored three quick goals and the James Madison Warhawks found themselves down 3-0 in the opening minutes of the new season. Those three goals were perhaps the wake up call the team needed to shake off the winter cobwebs. The Warhawks played the Pioneers even throughout the rest of that game which ended in a 9-6 home loss. Since then, under first year head coach, Aaron Solomon, the Warhawks have reeled off six straight wins with mix of timely scoring, excellent transitions and staunch play on the defensive side of the ball.

Early season match ups included avenging losses from a year ago to regional powers Robinson Secondary School and South County Secondary School. In what proved to be two very tough foes, both games were back and forth affairs and came down the wire with both opponents having a shot on goal in the waning seconds of each game. The Madison defense locked in to avoid overtime on both occasions as those final shots sailed wide of the goal. In the end Madison topped the Stallions of South County 7-6 and topped the Robinson Rams for the first time since 2013 by a score of 6-5.

Madison is giving up an average of six goals per game and the offense has picked up the pace having scored 30 goals in the last three games. In the Concorde District opener, Madison beat Chantilly by a score of 7-4, avenging three losses to the Chargers from a year ago. In recent contests Madison defeated Yorktown 11-2 and Westfield 12-6.

The Warhawks have done it with a balanced approached all year. Leading scorers include Patrick Ruffalo, who has had three hat tricks already this season and Zach Hanzlik who has had his own hat trick and two game winning goals. Other key contributors on offense include assist leader Michael Leone, Josh Rhodes, Casey Joseph, Ethan Doptis, and Bard Sullenger. With the return of attack Timmy Palmer following an injury, the Warhawks bring a lot of experience into each and every game.

Midfield play has been exceptional as Madison's ball control has improved in each and every game. Led by a trio of seniors John Hollingsworth, Brett Hanton and David Hibbs, along with a trio of sophomores in Arjun Sahni, Brendan Wyka and face-off specialist Cole DeFreitas, the Warhawks have markedly improved their time of possession from a year ago.

On the defensive side of the ball, Madison returns two all district performers from last year led by Kevin Lyons and Joey Jorgenson who have met the challenge of tough assignments each game by limiting the scoring of some of the regions top attacks. By their side are two talented underclassmen, Sam Nunez and Wolfie Gottschalk, who help compliment the goalie play of Charlie Hassett and co-captain Johnny Almanza. With a deep bench that includes Casey Counts at midfield and Lucas Kohler on defense, the Warhawks look poised to keep up their current pace of play throughout the remainder of the season.

Madison's remaining schedule can be found here.