On May 17, the first season of Buffalo Lacrosse officially ended. The Boys Varsity lacrosse team went 1-10, winning against Elk River in regular season play, and 0-1 in playoffs. The coach for the boys team is Joey Hartfiel. The Girls Varsity lacrosse team went 4-6 in regular season play, and 0-1 in playoffs, and were coached by Andrea Lund.
Last fall, the Lacrosse Booster Club raised $40 thousand for the, then, Lacrosse club to become two school-sponsored sports, Girls and Boys Varsity Lacrosse. This year was the first year that Buffalo High School has had an official Lacrosse team.
“One of our biggest challenges was losing our experienced players,” said senior Louie Clifton, “a lot of new players came in. We needed experience and to work on fundamentals.”
“Honestly the biggest challenge was getting used to a sport you’ve never played before,” said senior and first year Lacrosse player Nick Weeks. “I had no idea what I was getting into until I started.”
Weeks was one of the many new players who joined Lacrosse for the first time this year. Along with new members came a new coach, as Boys Lacrosse had a new coach, Joey Hartfiel.
“He [Joey] is such a hard worker, he has four jobs; two full-time, two part-time,” said Weeks. “It’s unbelievable how hard of a worker he is.”
While this is the first year Hartfiel has coached Buffalo Lacrosse, he has been the coach to multiple other teams, including some middle school teams. The girls coach, Andrea Lund, has been coaching the Girls’ Lacrosse team for several years, and has coached the girls to two second place State finishes in the club league.
“For our first year as a school sport we did okay,” said senior Alicia Tatley. “We didn’t really know what to expect going into the season.”
Sophomore and veteran JV Lacrosse player Thomas Clarke reflects on the Lacrosse season.
“We may have been 0-9,” said Clarke, “but in our hearts we were 9-0.”
