The season has ended with Malden High’s Boys Lacrosse team accomplishing an incredible achievement. The team finished the year with an overall record of 7-10, the highest win total in team history.
The team was lead by longtime coach Brenden Maney, who states that the team has played many good games and played some bad ones this year.
Maney states that one of their best games was actually their loss against Winthrop. The team played with “tremendous discipline” and nearly won against Winthrop’s Boys LAX team, a team that had beaten them by 12 earlier in the season. He continued to say that he is “sure that the team would like a second chance to play some of the games this year, however that is one of the many lessons that is provided through sports. You are asked to put forth the effort needed on a daily basis and when you don’t it is hard to hide.”
To Andy Tham, senior captain captain of the team their best game this year was “between either their second game versing Winthrop, or their match against Revere”. He believes that the boys lacrosse team never had a worst game, “because [they] always play [their] hearts out on the field”. He continued to say that “the score does not dictate [their] hearts.”
The members on the team who shined the most this year, according to Maney, are juniors Hasnat Moughal and Joey Costa, as well as seniors Steven Sexton, Andy Tham, and sophomore Zachary Rufo. There have been many surprises this year. Maney explained that Moughal “stepped into play goalie this year after never having played before and has done an amazing job.” He continued to say that Sexton and Tham “have been leaders as captains all year” and “they never missed a chance to work harder and make their teammates better”. Maney then praised Joey Costa and Zachary Rufo who according to him, have also been “leaders as well this year.”
When asked what they could have improved on, Maney stated that there has never been a perfect player, and that although this year presented the team many great problems, the team would “put themselves in new positions that would require [him] to help them overcome a new obstacle.”
Tham answered that “there’s always something to improve upon, not in a bad way, because we’re student athletes.” However, the team did improve tremendously this year, and they were able to do things that were not accomplished years past.
He explained that “[They] play much more as a 10 man unit than as individuals, and work together toward a common goal.” Tham also pointed to the team’s record now compared to season’s before, which according to him “speaks for itself” and shows the team’s progression.
When asked how this season could shape the seasons to come, Maney mentioned that the team will graduate with a very successful and accomplished senior class. He continued that “they have scored more points than any other team, and the underclassman are well positioned to step into the void that will be created.”
He further explained that “the seniors leadership will last well into next year and has pushed the program further than it has ever been”, stating that they “have set the bar higher than it was.”
For Tham, this season was also “bittersweet”, because it’s his last year playing lacrosse for Malden High. He stated that being a captain did have it’s challenges, but that it was ultimately rewarding.
He explained that “everyone knew the vision and they put [him] in the position to lead them to where [they] are now”. Tham continued to say that he “[appreciates his] teammates for all the corporation and the fun memories [they] have made as a team on and off the field.”
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