After the Tigers notched five straight championship wins over Trinity, the Rocks knocked off St. Xavier 8-5 to win the 2013 Kentucky state lacrosse championship last May.
The Rocks are gearing up to take on the Tigers in 2014 for yet another competitive season, facing in- and out-of-state teams.
Trinity has a predominantly young team taking the Marshall Stadium field. Several key players from last year graduated, including attackmen Mitchell Kraus, Davis Church, Sumner Franklin, midfielder Kevin Sims, and goalie Cody Tranbarger. The latter two served as the captains during the 17-1 season.
Casey Proffitt, senior attackman and captain of the team, said despite losing key players, they have what it takes to win the state title once again.
“We have the talent to get to state this year,” Proffitt said. “If we work hard, I like our chances of winning games. We need to learn to play together and fill in the spots we lost last year.”
Talent isn’t missing from the roster, including several standouts in all grade levels. Proffitt looks to junior defenseman Jeremiah Hemme, junior midfielders Luke Hagewood, Max Stratton, Austin Graehler, and junior attackman Chris Laveck, as younger players he expects to step up and fill roles.
Seniors include midfielders Stephen Lott, C.J. Ott, Jessee Lynch, Barry Nienhaus, Drew Chandler, defensemen Chas Dailey and Mitch Schiller, attackman Ray Hyde, and goalie Kendall Piscitelli, who will be playing key roles.
Head coach Pete Schroeder is looking forward to this season. After winning state championships with Trinity in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2013, Schroeder hopes to add another to the banner.
“Those guys from last year made great contributions,” Schroeder said. “It’s tough to replace that kind of experience. But we have a lot of guys that have been waiting their turn. They’ve got a lot of different skills, and I think, honestly, we’re probably more athletic than we’ve ever been in 13 years. I think we have what it takes to win games.”
Junior Jackson Leinhart returns to his attack role after starting with seniors last year and putting an impressive number of shots on goal.
“Being a junior, I don’t have as much verbal leadership responsibility, but I can lead by example, play my best, and overall be good,” Leinhart said. “Last year I scored a lot of goals and not a lot of assists. This year I want to be more well-rounded and feed the ball to other players a lot, because I feel like we’ll get a lot more pressure from other defenses.”
Schroeder cited a number of players who will be keys to his team’s success. “Jackson is our returning scorer, and he’ll get a lot of attention,” Schroeder said. “Casey is another guy we’re going to count on for a lot of offense. Graheler, Stratton, Hagewood, and Laveck will also be key. We have a lot of good offensive talent.
“On defense, we’ve got Hemme, Nate Brown and Dailey. We’ll put together a sound group on defense.”
After losing the boisterous leaders of last year, Proffitt points to the importance of leadership this year. As captain, he plans to lead by example and expects other seniors to do the same.
Schroeder said he has “seniors that are ready to step up and take more prominent roles for us this year.”
Graehler likes the way the team is coming together. “I think this year is going to be a good year,” he said. “We’re bonding well, everyone gets along, and we’re having fun.”
The main obstacle in the beginning of the season will be a lack of experience for the new guys.
“I don’t know how many weak spots we have,” Schroeder said. “It’s just a matter of how fast these guys that have not played a prominent role come along. We don’t have as much experience as we did this time last year. I feel comfortable on both sides of the ball, though, and with our goals.”
Despite the fact that official practice just began this month, most of the players were on competitive teams over the summer, and have been lifting and playing in an indoor league during the winter to keep their skills fresh.
“We all worked hard over the summer, so I think we’ll be able to compete with every team we play this year,” Proffitt said.
Among the new players is a student new to Trinity. Leinhart said, “We got a transfer from Collegiate named Max Stratton that I think will be a really big part of our team and play really good for us. Overall, I think we can definitely win a state title again and make a run.”
Hyde said he plans to join Proffitt and other seniors in leading the team. Hyde calls the group already close on and off the field, and new guys will be included in “the brotherhood.”
“We’ll be trying to bring our team together and work hard,” Hyde said. “We have to not only be teammates, but friends on and off the field. It helps us play together. We’re more than just players — we’re friends, we’re family. I would feel as if we’re pretty tight-knit right now, and we can keep working on that in the season.”
Even after state championship battles, close games, wins, and losses against St. Xavier, Schroeder still doesn’t see them as the biggest threat this year. Instead, it’s a team four hours up the road.
“Our toughest opponent will be the Culver Military Academy from Indiana,” Schroeder said. “They’re going to be a top-10 team in the nation. They have some very talented individual players, and when we play them, we have to play system offense and defense. It has to be a very collaborative effort. If we try to match them one-on-one, man-for-man, I don’t know how much success we’ll have. If we play good team defense, play smart with the ball, I think we have a chance against them.”
Schroeder will look to the Trinity student body for their continued support during this season.
“I’ll always remember the state game at St. X last year,” Schroeder said. “The crowd and students out there were outstanding. Every year it seems like we get a little more support, and the student body from last year set the bar very high. I know the students this year will do a great job supporting our team. We love having them out there. It’s a great school to be a part of, and lacrosse is another way of increasing the tradition at Trinity.”
