By Susan Jenior

Staff Writer

The Southeast High School boys lacrosse team is still alive in the regional tournament.

The Pirates topped Aurora and will play against Hunting Valley University School, the No. 1 seed in the regional tournament, on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Karl Mesaros, coach of the Pirates, is looking forward to the game and, furthermore, is proud of his team this season.

“Last year, we went 1-15 and didn’t make it out of the first round of the tournament,” said Mesaros. “This season, we are 8-8 overall and 6-6 in Region 6.

“We had a lot of kids work hard in the off-season,” Mesaros added. “We only had one senior we lost last year. The juniors from last year, and their leadership, being seniors this year, definitely made a difference. The seniors wanted to be successful.”

And lacrosse is gaining popularity at Southeast.

“I like driving around and seeing people playing lacrosse in their backyard,” Mesaros said.

Players worth nothing this season include Case Myers, whose 63 goals are a new single-season record.

“Case broke the previous record of 59 and is headed to Mount Vernon Nazarene to play lacrosse,” said Mesaros. “He is the second one to play college lacrosse from the program. Levi Willett is playing for Hiram.

“Garrett Sprutte did well on defense this year, cleared the ball and scored 10 goals for us,” said Mesaros.
Nick Villelonga was the goalie and has totaled 188 saves against more than 300 shots on goal.

“He kept us in a lot of games,” said Mesaros.

The coach has high hopes for the team in their next postseason matchup.

“University School is a tough team, ranked first in a region, but on any given day, these kids know who they are and what they have to do,” he said.

“I just want people to know that lacrosse is a great sport, but not too many people know a lot about it. This is a strong baseball area,” said Mesaros.

“I am already looking forward to next year with a good, strong freshman class and our juniors returning, including Dillon Donnel, a junior, a captain this year,” said Mesaros.

Tickets for Thursday’s game are available by visiting www.ohsaa.org/tickets, then click on “Boys Lacrosse,” then scroll to Division II to find the game listed. Tickets are $12 each for adults and $5 for students.

The Southeast girls lacrosse team was ranked No. 23 and fell to Green in the regional.