By Paul Silverfarb
Greenwich High School boys’ lacrosse head coach Bobby Lutz is known for his intensity. Practices are structured and he expects the most from his athletes all the time.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has made an impact on Lutz in a surprising way. After missing a year of high school lacrosse during the shutdown last year, he’s back on the field with his team and couldn’t be happier. He’s still just as intense and still expects a high level from his team all the time.
“The energy and the enthusiasm is great,” Lutz said. “The kids are having a fun time.”
And they aren’t the only ones who have a good time during games and practices. Lutz said that the COVID-19 has put some things into better focus for himself and the coaching staff. While they are still just as competitive as before, Lutz said that this year he’s soaking in the moment more and having more fun with the team.
“I’m letting the kids have more fun,” Lutz said. “It’s weird because I am who I am as a coach, but it’s also a little different because I’m just happy to be out there. I’m tolerating more and letting them have a little bit more fun. We lose focus a little bit at practice for all the right reasons. They are goofing around a little bit. And that’s fine. Let them have fun. They need this right about now. Everything doesn’t have to be so rigid and structured right now. It’s about letting the kids enjoy themselves and that’s leading to a fun attitude for the coaches of them just happy to be out there with the kids. There’s a great mix between a structured program and being out there having fun.”
And while they are having fun and once again enjoying each other’s company, there’s still that same lofty expectation that follows Big Red wherever they go.
“I think we would have surprised a few teams last year if we played,” Lutz said. “I don’t know how far we would have gone, but it was definitely going to show that we have a lot of talent and were an up-and-coming contender.
With that in mind, Big Red was ready to come out of the gates flying this season. They were eager to show Connecticut that the Cards are a threat and the start of the season couldn’t have gone better for GHS. They were together for the first time in a long time and were hard at work, masks and all, gearing up for the start of what is expected to be a standout season.
But before Lutz had a chance to take everything all in, everything came crashing down. Several athletes attended a party and came back positive for COVID-19 a few days later. The program immediately shutdown for its quarantine.
“It was frustrating because we were really starting to improve and were building good chemistry,” Lutz said. “No one was injured and we got through seven really good practices. Then this happened. It was tough, but the kids were just so excited with how good they were looking early, that they didn’t miss a beat. As coaches, we were worried if we lost some kids or if they weren’t staying in shape or working hard on their own. But they did.”
During the shutdown of the program due to COVID-19, Lutz and the rest of the Cardinals used their time wisely. They met on Google Meets and watched a ton of film.
“It was almost like a classroom experience,” Lutz said. “We went over our ready list. We went over our offensive and defensive sets and it was great. We never really had time to do that stuff. We were always worried about getting out on the field that we put that other stuff to the side. It wasn’t a blessing, but I can say that we’ve never been as prepared on a knowledgeable front in terms of what our team is about and what our philosophies and concepts are than we are this year. This is the first time that the base and foundation of what the team is and what we are running has been this strong.”
And now it’s all about getting on the field and implementing all the lessons from their Google Meets sessions during quarantine. As of Monday, Big Red was finally able to get back onto the turf at GHS and resume physical activities and improve it that area.
“As a teacher, a coach, and as a father, we talk a lot about mental health and I believe that these kids need to be out playing sports and need to be involved and interacting with each other,” Lutz said.
For Greenwich lacrosse, there’s always the goal of reaching both the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference and CIAC tournaments. This year is no exception. And despite being in one of the most competitive leagues throughout the region, Lutz says that he wants his team to be battling for some championship hardware this season.
“When you look at the level of kids that could potentially play for college, we have at least eight to 10 kids that can do that,” Lutz said. “To have that many kids that can do that is pretty special. There’s not that many parts of the field where we are weak. When the offense is playing well, we can work on our defense. And if the defense is playing well, we can focus on our offense. I also think this is a team that will definitely get better as the season goes along, where in past year we might have plateaued or peaked too early. That shouldn’t happen this year. I really think that we are an FCIAC and state contender.”
Leading the way for GHS on the attack will be captain John Cataldo. Lutz said that he’s a great shooter and solid dodger and also thinks he’s going to sneak up on a lot of teams this year. Bryce Metalios, who Lutz believes should be a Division-I lacrosse prospect, will help Cataldo and become one of the top lacrosse attackmen around.
Joining the attack will be sophomore Brian Collins. Lutz said that Collins is a gritty athlete that’s coming into his own. Coming off a successful ice hockey campaign, Wes Zolin will also play at the attack and log some key minutes for the Cardinals.
Pacing Big Red on the midfield will be senior captain Will Montesi and Lutz couldn’t be happier to have him leading the middies.
“He’s like a moose out there,” said Lutz. “He’s actually going to play football for Army. He got some D-I lacrosse offers but decided to continue playing football. He’s a huge athletic body out there and it’s going to be hard for opponents to slow him down or get past him.”
Joining Montesi at midfield will be senior captain Jack Cook, who will be looked upon to be an impact player on both sides of the ball. Three juniors, Flynn Milledge, James Pilc, and Quinn Warwick will be playing a bunch of minutes as well for Big Red. Keying GHS with the faceoffs will be Warwick.
“Having five guys out there that I can rotate equally is really great,” Lutz said. “That’s where our depth will come into play. We’re always looking for that third player at midfield and now I have five that I can throw in at any given time. All five of those guys are both offensive and defensive players. If great because if a guy gets tired or you’re in trouble because a player’s been out there for a long time, we can just throw another guy in there and not miss a beat.
Starting for Big Red as short-stick defensive midfielders will be seniors Hugo Mark and Hank Minchin.
Senior Chris Cataldo will be pacing the Cards on defense and Lutz considers him a lock down defender and is one of the best defenders in the FCIAC. Another senior captain, Jimmy O’Malley, will be the other mainstay at the position. Adding some depth to the defense will be junior Roy Knutson, sophomore Matthew Trimmer, and junior Cory Tautel.
Between the pipes at GHS will be senior Will Clements and junior Charlie Zola.
“He’s a solid kid that is super athletic and a great ball stopper,” Lutz said. “He’s also very fast and it will be hard to get the ball past him. Charlie is a junior and he’s also a great goaltender. He’s injured right now but when he comes back I could see him splitting some time with Will. I will roll with whoever has the hot hand.”
And for Lutz, having those horses and all the talented depth on the roster on the team really makes coaching fun and exciting.
“Winning games is great, but this is also the first time where I can go into a practice and tell them that we are going to try a new set and I know that I have talented players to do it,” Lutz said. “They are all high I.Q. players and that’s a nice bonus. I put something new into practice and they all absorb it and initiate it immediately.”
Big Red will return to Cardinal Stadium tomorrow at noon when they host perennial powers Fairfield Prep. They stay home and host Westhill High School Tuesday night at 5 p.m.
