The Homer boys lacrosse program has been one of the premier ones in Section III, with the program amassing 10 or more wins in eight of the last 10 seasons. The Trojans will be going through a big change, with longtime head coach Tom Cottrell retiring after last season and CJ Nye stepping in as the next man to patrol the sidelines.
Nye, a former SUNY Cortland men’s lacrosse assistant coach and player, was the JV coach and a varsity assistant last year. Now, he’s the head coach of a top program in Section III.
“It’s a great program and there've been a lot of awesome players to come through here,” Nye said. “There’s only been a few coaches, too. Those two things combined maybe puts the pressure on a little bit, but more than anything I’m just excited. I’ve been around lacrosse forever it seems and it’s my first head coaching gig. I’ve been looking forward to this and the time is now. With the team I’ve got in front of me, I’m really excited to see what we can put on the field and the product we can produce.”
The Trojans have some holes to fill this season, with leading scorer Jake Calabro, Sam Bieber, Riley DeLage and Brenton Hapgood all graduating from the attack and midfield spots and defenders Blair Wakula, Tavyn Malchak, Logan Peck and Jack Smith graduating.
While Calabro had a team-high 78 points last year, current senior Hunter Riehlman scored 49 goals to pace Homer. Reid Partis also had 51 points on 37 goals, Wyatt Wilbur had 23 points on 15 goals and Evan Butts notched 13 points on 10 goals. Nye thinks this group will be balanced and lethal offensively.
“Jake is a kid that’s pretty irreplaceable in the sense that we don’t have somebody who can put the entire team on their back, but it could be a blessing in disguise,” Nye said. “We’ve got more guys; instead of “the guy,” we’ve got four or five guys who can take turns putting the team on their back or be more of a unit.”
Hunter Riehlman and Partis are going to be the two senior leaders at attack and Nye knows both of them can step up to the task.
“Hunter Riehlman doesn’t stand off the page in size or stature, but he can ball,” Nye said. “The kid can play, he plays hard. Reid Partis, the same thing.”
With all the defensive players Homer lost last year, it brings back junior goalie Ben Bradshaw. Bradshaw started as a sophomore and had a .512 save percentage.
“We’ve got our netminder back in Ben Bradshaw and he’s really been devoted to improving his game,” Nye said. “It’s not only the physical aspects – he’s gotten a little quicker on his feet, his hands are lighter and faster – but he’s also focused on the mental aspect of the game and studying it. That’s really exciting that we get to start and end with him back there defensively.”
Tyler Riehlman is the only returning starting defender from last year and he will be leading a young, but promising, unit.
“Tyler is our veteran presence, but we have Liam O’Connor, who’s now a junior, who saw some time and Bryce Hoffmann saw some time last year and he’s looking forward to stepping up and taking on a new role,” Nye said. “We also have some guys who are coming up from JV who I got to work with last year very closely and I think they’re going to step in and play a big role.”
Nye thinks senior Sam Sorenson could very well be Homer’s best defender despite not having the long stick in hand during the season.
“We also might have one of the best defensive players in the section in Sam Sorenson,” Nye said. “He can run with anybody. He just got done wrestling 215-pound kids and handling them quite well, now he gets to go against a 170-pound midfielder and push them around a little bit.”
For all the skill Homer is bringing back, it is also returning players with a lot of size. Plenty of the Trojans are above 6 feet tall with built frames, which could prove to be an advantage as the season wears on.
“I’m very lucky that we’ve got the size and athletes that we do,” Nye said. “It’s no secret that Homer takes a lot of pride in its athletics.”
Nye knows he’s taking over a successful program and wants to make sure he meets expectations during his first year at the helm.
“I always like to set lofty goals for myself and I’m a pretty optimistic person,” Nye said. “Every year, somebody has to win the league and somebody has to win the section. Why not us?”
