Wildcats showed fighting spirit

In the world a sports, when a team or an individual falls behind and is losing on the scoreboard during a competition, they have a couple of options. They can take the easy way out, make a bunch of excuses for why they’re not giving their best effort and simply succumb to the will of their opponent. Or, they can show pride and keep competing-knowing that whether they emerge victorious, or not, in the end the can walk with the pride of knowing that they never quit.
When the High Point High School boy’s lacrosse program trailed during a game this spring-they chose to fight until the very last second.
“This year we had several games where we overcame a deficit to ultimately win," High Point head coach Marc Russell said. “We did this against Morris Catholic (a 6-4 win on March 27), Newton (a 7-5 win on April 9) and Parsippany (a 9-8 win on May 11), the Parsippany game ending with an overtime win. These were impressive, showing the heart of the boys as they kept their heads and didn't get frustrated in these situations."
Veteran student athletes on the roster provided proper guidance for the Wildcats this year.
“Our leadership came from some of our senior leaders like Jon Morris leading the team in points and goals," Russell said. “Also the defense showed a lot of leadership with seniors Zach Mazza and Danton Hall as well as the sophomore goalie Noah Francois. Junior Ryan Nugent also was a key factor leading by example and always working at 110 percent."
Coach Russell noted a few student athletes on the team who stood out in terms of the ways in which they improved as lacrosse players as the season progressed.
“I was surprised by Ryan Nugent [emerge] to a team leader and a very capable player in all situations,’’ Russell said. “It was nice to see some upperclassmen work into some positions like Jacob Carter being a knowledgeable defensive player and freshman like Ryan Bergman earning a spot on varsity and being a very dependable and versatile player."
The Wildcats tallied an overall record of 7-8 and they are collectively very much looking forward to the spring of 2020.
“The team this year showed a lot of growth from previous years, this is the best record High Point has had and we hope to continue to grow," Russell said.