Rocky Start Shows Pegleg Strength
The Stuyvesant Peglegs have struggled to start their season but are proving they deserve a playoff spot.
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Starting out the season with two losses, the Peglegs, Stuyvesant’s boys’ lacrosse team, were determined to come back strong to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Peglegs had lost to Albert Tuitt Educational Campus with a final score of 2-0 and Frederick Douglass Academy with a final score of 12-5.
After these losses, the team looked back at their play and realized the one key component they were lacking in was their offense. “Our defense has been very strong so far, but our offense really needs to take it to the next level. Our biggest problem is being aggressive and going for shots,” senior and co-captain Winston Venderbush said.
The Peglegs traced many of their early struggles to a heavy reliance on a few players. In the first two games of the season, senior and co-captain Michael Joh and senior Ledion Lecaj were the only players to score goals, combining for only five.
These losses were a wake up call. “We can never underestimate our opponents and must play every team as if they were the best,” Joh said.
Venderbush was shocked that the Peglegs lost their first two games. “I thought it was really winnable. We just came onto the field as a bunch of individuals rather than a team,” he said.
With these issues recognized, the Peglegs went on to win the next three games, scoring a combined 23 goals in these games, while only giving up five goals in return. “I think we definitely pulled together as a team more for the next [three] games and were able to win together. It's what we should have done,” said Venderbush.
The Peglegs beat Long Island City High School 10-2, Jamaica High School 4-2, and A. Philip Randolph Campus High School 9-1, with a total of eight different players scoring in those matches, including senior Enoch Lee, juniors Dmytro Hvirtsman and Sam Brimberg, and Venderbush.
With their season almost halfway over and their record at 3-2, the Peglegs will have to keep up their offensive aggressiveness in order to help their stellar defense and keep hopes of a deep playoff run alive.