The Apponequet Regional High School boys’ lacrosse team started its season as well as it could have hoped, winning its season-opening game 14-2 at Middleboro High School on Friday, March 31.

With veterans in attack and youth in defense, Apponequet Lakers head coach Jeremy Nodelman said he hopes his team will be competitive in the South Coast Conference this season.

“We want to contend in the league,” Nodelman said. “That’s always goal number one. We have a very good league, so our first priority is taking care of league business. The second priority is getting to the tournament and seeing how far we can go.”

Nodelman praised his team’s ability to adjust when facing Middleboro’s zone defense. Middleboro defended areas of the field instead of individual players, meaning the Lakers had to spread the field and move the ball quickly to break through their opponents.

“We have a lot of new players,” Nodelman said. “We have a big freshman group and pretty much a whole new defense with only one defender returning.”

The defense did more than hold its own: it held Middleboro scoreless until the final quarter, by which time Apponequet had a big lead.

Apponequet’s dominance in the game began at the faceoff circle, where Kevin O’Connor won most of the duels for his team.

“Our faceoffs were really good,” Nodelman said. “And, we had a lot of guys scoring and some good passing.”

Attacker Jake Cusson led the way with four goals, while attacker Kenny Wisniewski and midfielder Will Levrault each had three, according to Apponequet’s scorebook. 

Midfielders O’Connor, Harrison Lemieux, Joshua Keller, and attacker Justyn Hooper all chipped in with one goal apiece.

Lemieux led the team in the assists category with five. Cusson and Wisniewski each had two, and Hooper and O’Connor both had one.

Apponequet will host Middleboro on May 17 at 4 p.m.

The Lakers’ upcoming home games in the league include matchups against Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School on April 12 at 4 p.m., Seekonk High School on April 19 at 4:30 p.m., Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School on April 28 at 5 p.m., and Fairhaven High School on May 3 at 4 p.m.