After finishing the season with a 18-4 record and the title of Middlesex League champions, the RMHS boys lacrosse team is looking to keep improving on their past success–this season under the strong leadership of 5 players who have committed to play at the college level.
Captains Jack Filipski (‘25 and Endicott College), Ian Leonard (‘25 and Endicott College), Nate Mulvey (‘25 and Saint Anselm College), Ben Diemer (‘25 and Siena College), and Cullen Granara (‘25 University of Massachusetts, Lowell) have very high hopes for this season and are looking to implement their own styles of leadership for the 2025 season.
The main change noted by captains when going into the season is the pace and commitment to daily practices. Jack Filipski said, “In years prior we have been super relaxed, joking around during practice, but going into this year we’re going to really have to lock in and really change the mindset to be focused on what we need to do better and how we’re going to do it.”
The captains don’t only expect this intensity from themselves, but younger members of the team as well. John Torell (‘27) commented on the practice environment saying, “[Having committed college athletes for captains] definitely makes it more intense, there’s high level competition every practice and you have to work your hardest and can’t just breeze through practice. They set a high pace and high expectations so you have to work for it every day.”
Through their journey to committing to college athletics, the 5 captains have learned valuable skills in responsibility and leadership that they believe will help guide them and their teammates through a successful season.
“Going through the recruiting process taught me to be more responsible,” said Leonard. “Taking responsibility for things that I do kind of translates over to helping kids be more responsible for what they’re doing when playing on the team.”
Mulvey has a similar view on his role as a leader on the team: “Take leadership on the field and just trying to be a better captain on and off the field.”
However, like any high school sports team, the Rockets will face challenges this season. Along with a coach in his second year, the team has already faced some hardships in the first days of the season. Filipski commented on this saying, “Immediately injury and sickness has affected the team. Senior Zach Lindmark (‘25 and Saint Anselm) has a messed up shoulder, he might be able to play by the first game but his timeline is still a little shaky. We have sickness in some younger kids that might affect their ability to play early on in the season. And personally I will be out for the entire season recovering from knee surgery.”
Despite this the team still has high hopes for this season and looks to remain top of the Middlesex league and one of the top teams in the MIAA Division 2. “We play a tough schedule so there’s always that, too, but we have a ton of seniors this year so that’s gonna contribute a lot of leadership across the team,” said Leonard. Mulvey added, “There’s always going to be some ups and downs so you never know what’s gonna happen next and we kind of just have to learn how to adapt to things like that.”
The Rockets and their captains look to kick off the season with a win against Burlington on April 1st.
