SUDBURY – Fish throwing. A mountain hike. A ferry ride.
And lacrosse.
The April vacation week for the Lincoln-Sudbury boys team will not include sleeping in and playing video games endlessly. Though with school on hiatus, a pseudo astronomy class is planned.
A trip to the Space Needle (also on the docket) certainly will not be graded, but L-S will be schooled in culture when the team travels to Mercer Island, Washington, during the third week of April. The journey is a long-requested visit to play a team that annually treks to the East Coast each spring and summer.
“I’ve been hassling them for a long time that it’s their turn to come out and visit,” said 24-year Mercer Island High coach Ian O’Hearn, whose team visited New Jersey last spring. “They’re finally doing it.”
“It was just a lot of asking from them, and a lot of us feeling terrible in saying ‘no’,” said L-S coach Jason Orlando. “It finally worked out.”
Mercer Island is the defending Division 3A state champion and will play the Warriors on April 24. The teams last played in 2018, but Mercer usually visits during the summer for New England Lacrosse Showcase (NELS) tournaments.
The Islanders (6-0 this season) will be nearby in two weeks when they play two games (vs. defending state champ Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth) near Portland, Maine, and another against 13-time state champ Bishop Guertin, New Hampshire, during their Spring Break. A week later, they get to play host. L-S players, managers and coaches (nearly 30 in total) will stay with the Mercer Island players’ families and will also play two games (the other is against defending private school state champ Seattle Prep).
Also planned is a trip to Pike Place Market – known for its workers who throw fish for customer orders – a boat ride to Bainbridge Island and a hike in the Cascade Mountains. L-S first will bus to Albany, New York, to play West Genesee High (three-time defending sectional champs in N.Y.) on Saturday, April 19 before flying to Seattle, which is a 10-minute drive from Mercer Island.
“I’m excited to be with the team on the plane,” said L-S senior captain Owen Vona before practice on Tuesday. “It’s going to be a little chaotic, probably, but it’s going to be fun. A good team chemistry-building experience that will get us ready for the playoffs.”
The Warriors, who play an independent schedule, have already faced an out-of-state team, ...
