Bellingham Boys Lacrosse Looking to Improve

By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

 The Bellingham boys’ lacrosse team was looking to progress as they prepared to open the season. Things looked good as the Blackhawks won their season opener with a double over-time win over Milford, but as quickly as they were to notch their first W on the season, the losses began to build up. Bellingham lost seven in a row following their opening day victory before finally getting back into the win column. 

“The boys’ lacrosse program is continuing to make positive strides in building a competitive program at the high school level,” Coach Steve Linehan said. “We enter the season with strong experience and leadership from several veteran players.”

Looking to lead the Hawks on the field will be the team’s returning goalie Mark Imparato, defenseman Sean Edwards and attackmen Connor Henchey and Liam Keating. Henchey is the team’s offensive leader and has been the Blackhawks top scorer the past two years. He will be headed to Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH to play lacrosse next fall. Along with Edwards and Imparato the trio, who are all captains, will be looked upon heavily as the staples of the program this spring.

Bellingham also expects to have strong contributions from returning varsity players Gavin Elder, Jameson Eldridge, Brady Pelletier, Jack Baker, Josh Davis, and Max Walker. 

As the program, which is now in its 12th season, continues to grow, Bellingham is also in possession of some talented younger players as well. Freshmen Brady Carroll (midfielder), Aiden Smith (defense), and Ryan Austin (attack) will all see considerable time on the varsity level this season. The three all suited up as eighth graders for Linehan’s last year and Auston and Carroll are currently second on the team in scoring.

“In addition to having a year of experience, they all play club lacrosse,” the Coach said. “They are not at all intimidated with the speed or the physicality of the varsity game.”

Linehan will also be looking for Brandon Hazard, Aidan Schaefer, and Harry Gearhart to contribute to the team’s success on the season. As the year moves along, he is also hoping that he gets some positive input on the field from his first-year varsity athletes as well.

Prior to the season getting underway Bellingham’s goal was to capture the most wins in the program’s history, which currently sits at six. 

“It has been tough to play in the Tri Valley League. It’s a very competitive league where we are at the mercy of the power house schools,” the coach said. “We are a division 4 school playing against division 2 and 3 teams. Although we’ve been around for 12 years, we only started our feeder program about five years ago.”

Prior to the feeder program becoming established Bellingham High School, lacrosse players were basically picking up their sticks for the first time. Now, just about the entire team is playing the sport on a consistent basis. 

The Blackhawks’ second goal was to qualify for the State Tournament, something the program has only done once in its history, and it has been some time since they were able to venture into the post-season.

According to the Coach, doing so is a very feasible probability with the MIAA’s new ranking system.

“It can be done, but in order for us to advance into the division 4 tournament, we definitely will need some more wins,” Linehan said. “And that will come from the job the youth program has been doing getting players ready to move up the ladder and be ready for high school lacrosse. Lacrosse is a money sport and Bellingham is not a money town, so the youth program plays a big part in our success.”

With a couple of wins under their belt at the midway point of the season Bellingham is going to have to work a little harder to pick up some more wins if they want to collect on their two pre-season goals; but as the Coach said it is obtainable if they continue to work and play hard.