Spring is upon us and so is lacrosse season.

After a promising start last season, the Hawks lost steam and ended the season on a three-game losing streak and finished with a record of 12-7, placing fourth in the section.  They were able to get a first-round home playoff game, which they lost 12-7 against Seneca Valley.

One strength of last year’s team was experience.  There were 12 seniors, many of which had started the year before.

This year, the team only returns three starters from last year.  Senior midfielder Luke Henderson, senior SSDM/midfielder Mitch Gramm, and junior LSM/defenceman Nick Howrylak make up the majority of the experience heading into the season.  Other notable players are senior defenseman Ian Gurino, who missed last year with an injury but got some time his sophomore season, and senior faceoff specialist/SSDM Zach Bush, who took a fair amount of faceoffs last season.

“Everyone is going to have to step up.  The returning players are going to have to play a bigger role this year and new kids are going to get a chance,” said Mitch Gramm.

Not only is the team very young, but they also have a first-year head coach.  Last year’s defensive coordinator Luke Lewis is stepping up to the head coach position.  Lewis played collegiately at Seton Hill University.  The staff also has three Bethel Park alumni Mike Stephenson, Luke Falvo, and Ryan Ferris.

With this year being a realignment year in the WPIAL, the Hawks are moving down from 3A into 2A.  This movement comes with the current enrollment numbers at the high school.  Other schools to move with Bethel are Latrobe and Penn-Trafford.  Bethel will move into a conference with local teams such as South Fayette, Seton LaSalle, and Chartiers Valley.

“Even though we’ve moved down, we are still a competitive team.  We have the same expectation to compete for the section this year,” said Ian Gurino on moving down to 2A.

The boys started their season with a home opener against Canon-Mac, which they lost 12-7. Freshman attackman Gavin Edkins led the team with three goals.  Bethel was able to rebound on Monday with a 11-7 come-from-behind section victory over Greensburg Central Catholic.