Stallions boys lacrosse still going strong
Friday, April 8, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
DeSales’ Blake Carawan moves while New Albany’s Sean Ellis defends on March 28 at New Albany. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Savoring the moment paid off for the DeSales boys lacrosse team during its run to the Division II state championship a year ago.
The Stallions have tried to live by a similar mantra this spring, albeit one that looks slightly different because of their younger roster.
“Our motto last year as a team and throughout the playoffs was ‘Give us one more day with the team,’” junior attacker Blake Carawan said. “This year, it’s treating every game like it’s our last. Time is not unlimited, so we’ve got to take it seriously.”
So far, DeSales has stayed on task even though it has only three seniors following a season in which it defeated Chagrin Falls 20-6 in the state final.
The Stallions closed the season on an eight-game winning streak despite what coach Matt Triplet called “lots of adversity.”
“We’re happy with what we’ve been seeing so far,” Triplet said. “The youth showing up is kind of a frustrating thing coming off a year like we had last year, but having that much youth after a year like that is a good thing, too, because we’ve got guys you can grow with. Some of the guys have been through a state championship and we can use them as a mentor and to be an example.
“Last year was obviously great, but the season had a lot of ups and downs. We skyrocketed in the playoffs, but we had a lot of injuries. We had to kind of take it on the chin the last couple weeks in preparation for the playoffs.”
DeSales’ Bryce Herrick shoots while New Albany’s Wyatt Spalding defends March 28 at New Albany. Photo: John Hulkenberg
DeSales is 4-0 overall heading into its game April 11 at home against Columbus Academy. The Stallions defeated Watterson 12-5 on April 4 and play the only other CCL program with a team, St. Charles, on May 2 at home.
Carawan’s brother, Jackson Carawan, led an 11-member senior class a year ago.
While Jackson Carawan finished with 58 goals, made first-team all-state and is now playing for Richmond, Blake has assumed the leading role this spring.
A Jacksonville commit, Blake scored a program-record 10 goals in a 17-14 win over New Albany on March 28.
The Carawan family moved from Virginia to Ohio when Blake was about 9 years old, meaning they grew up playing at the travel level on the lacrosse-rich east coast.
“(Blake has) been in his brother’s shadow for their entire childhood and now that his brother’s not there anymore, he’s growing into himself and finding out who he is,” Triplet said. “It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
Triplet is in his 17th season as the Stallions’ coach and also guided the program to state titles in 2012 and 2018 and to two other regional titles.
The program’s only seniors are midfielders Ian Burns, Gabe Caruso and Liam Harmon, and none are planning to play collegiately.
There are three other college commits from the junior class in John Kraker (defender, Cleveland State), Cooper Simpson (defender, Cornell) and Braden Wakefield (defensive midfielder, Detroit Mercy).
“We’re definitely a little bit younger of a team, but we’ve got experience with a lot of guys coming back from last year,” Harmon said. “The biggest thing from last year’s team was the togetherness and the brotherhood between the players on the team. It really is family.
“We definitely like to move the ball and just run teams. We’ve got to play with all-out effort and give 110 percent every play.”
Other key players have included junior goalie Josh Wade, junior attackers Jack Jordan and Ty Hampton, junior defender Drew Jones and sophomore midfielder Bryce Herrick.
“It’s been going well,” Blake Carawan said. “Last year we were blessed with a pretty good class of seniors and they really showed us the ropes. We’re starting to play together and fill those roles and everything’s clicking right now.
“We have a lot of great individual talent. It’s more of just learning to play together and trusting our teammates, and that’s really helped us.”