Members of Jonathan Alder’s lacrosse squad are from left, front row, Corey Kingry, Kyle Hines, David Meridith, Will Heisler, Blake Seum, Mason Wolford, Wyatt Kaiser and Eli Nicol; second row, Aspen Cameron, Cam Smith, Mason Arbogast, Ryan Bailey, Nick Lisska, Conor Costello, Jack Kennedy, Morgan Seum and Braden Walker; third row, coach Troy Cameron, coach Eamon Costello, Nathan Lee, Evan Catanella, Scott Wallace, Andrew Heisler, head coach Rob Davis and coach Jason Arbogast. Not pictured, Logan Wolgemuth, Breckin Francis, JJ Bay, Alex Kerr, Carson Greiner and Forrest Gregory. (Photo submitted)
Jonathan Alder’s boys lacrosse program will try and bounce back from a 5-12 record that was posted during the 2019 campaign.
The Pioneers’ 2020 season – like that of all other high school spring sports teams – was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was a disappointing season a couple of years ago,” admitted coach Rob Davis. “We had some very talented athletes on the 2019 team, but we were pretty young as far as lacrosse experience.”
Alder has several lettermen returning from two years ago, including defensemen Breckin Francis, Morgan Seum and midfielder Logan Wolgemuth.
The bulk of the squad is comprised of athletes who will graduate in the class of 2023.
“That class is very strong and they’ve been playing lacrosse since the third and fourth grade,” said Davis. “They’ve also played a lot during the summer.”
Among those athletes are goalie Mason Arbogast and attackers Mason Wolford, Aspen Cameron and Cory Kingry.
“They have very good chemistry,” said the Alder coach.
Davis said captains Francis, Seum, Wolgemth and Arbogast provide very good leadership.
“They have worked very hard over the past year to get back to this point and play lacrosse,” said Davis. “We also feel fortunate to have three pretty good lines at midfield.”
An area of concern includes roster depth at key positions.
Although the team may be small in numbers, there are definite goals ahead for the Pioneers.
“We have high expectations,” said Davis. “However, we will take it one game at a time and attempt to improve with each one.
“If we do that, we’ll peak at the right time for the post-season tournament.”
Alder was knocked out of the 2019 tourney by Bellbrook.