By Michael Letendre
The Bristol Badgers of Bristol Youth Lacrosse (U12) are your 2023 CVYL Champions.
The Bristol Badgers were battle tested all season according to Bristol Youth Lacrosse President Eric Bell and fought extremely hard to earn its spot in the CYVL playoff tournament – coming away victorious with some nail-biting, last-minute heroics to take home the title at the Connecticut Valley Youth Lacrosse playoffs in June.
With a limited roster of just 14 total players (it takes 10 to field a team), the squad consisted of an ideal blend of veteran leadership, strong first year players, and young up and coming talent.
“Led by their veteran star goalkeeper Noah Smith, dynamic midfielders Grayson Fellows, Ethan Dwyer and Connor Campbell along with Aaron Madore, Logan Avery, Nathan Carlson, and Boston LeBrecque and breakout first-year players; Braeden Smith, Zayden Ogonowski, Nicholas Haddon, Philip Agyeman, and future stars Joey Montineri and Bentley Judd, this team is built for the future,” said Bell.
The Badgers had a slow start to the season with some tough, hard-fought losses out of the gate but built some impressive momentum during mid-season play.
And some crucial division wins helped propel the Bristol program. “Their defensive core of Madore, Carlson and Avery were all new to the position,” said Bell. “Short stick defensive specialists LeBrecque and Agyeman held strong throughout the season and neutralized opponents’ offensive attack. With limited substitutions, the offensive strategy was centered around patience, balance and ball control.”
“This team bought into the system and demonstrated the resilience and teamwork needed to become a cohesive unit.”
As the regular season came to a close, the Badgers earned their spot in the CYVL playoffs, putting together their first decisive win against Burlington in front of their hometown crowd.
And then the squad Bristol took care of a squad from outside of the state.
Entering the championship weekend, Bristol squared off against its first out of state opponent in Long Meadow, Massachusetts.
With some hard-fought comebacks already under their belt, the Badgers were ready for another nail biting, buzzer beater performance against Long Meadow.
The forty-eight minute, back and forth match came down to a last-minute heroics.
A second bounce shot from 20 yards out from Fellows found the back of the goal and sealed the second round victory for the Badgers, secured their trip to the championship game on Sunday.
Entering that Sunday, confidence was high, the team felt good about their momentum from their last second win, but behind the strength of some very strong players in Belchertown, Bristol fell behind early.
At halftime, Bristol’s new first year coach, Elliott Diesenhaus and assistant Landon DiNatali, made some critical adjustments to the defensive strategy.
Aaron Madore and Nathan Carlson started to double-team a few of Belchertown’s star players – slowing down the pace of the game.
From that point forward, Bristol pulled ahead to snare the championship behind a huge 14-6 victory over Belchertown.
And Bell had some great thoughts about the Badgers tremendous season and the state of the sport of lacrosse in the city.
“It is often said that in youth sports that winning isn’t everything and depending on who you ask, you may hear a different opinion,” said Bell. “But a focus on the outcome (wins or losses) doesn’t fully appreciate the HOW. This Badger team showed this town something that it is known for: Grit and Determination. They have a lot to be proud of, win or lose, and have made it clear that watching them achieve what they did and the way they did it, Bristol Lacrosse is here to stay.”
