By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The climb has been a stead one over the last three years for the Hun School boys lacrosse team, capped off by the school’s all-time best season last year.
As a freshman, Owen Black was part of a Hun team that went 11-6 under then first-year head coach M.V. Whitlow. The Raiders followed that up with a 13-7 season a year later before going 19-1 last year, winning state Prep A and Mid-Atlantic Prep League titles along the way.
“It’s been an awesome ride,” Black said. “I can’t thank Coach Whitlow enough for turning this program around with Coach (Jeff) Snow and Coach (Matthew) Mason. I put that on our coaches. We look to them and do what they say.”
The Raiders got this season off on the right foot with a 14-8 win over Georgetown Prep on Tuesday. Black scored three goals, while newcomer Luke Prybylski led the way with four goals. Jake Keller and Griffin Moroney added a pair of goals apiece.
“I think it is all about coming together in the off-season,” Black said. “We definitely did that. This was our first test. Georgetown Prep is a very good team and we really came together well. It was great to see what we could do together.
“I think we’re used to bonding together in the time we have. Everyone respects the players that came before us and everyone is playing for them and not for themselves, which is awesome to see with a bunch of new guys and new players.”
The Raiders return a solid nucleus that will need to blend with a strong group of newcomers as the team looks to duplicate last year’s success. One player who won’t be around is Owen’s brother, Brendan, who is now a freshman at Villanova. It’s the first year the two brothers have not played together.
“It is definitely a big change,” Black said. “He was reaching out to all of us last night and was able to come to a couple of our practices. I think that has helped us and it is good to see him around.”
Black will join his brother at Villanova next year. But for now he is concentrating on making this the best possible season for Hun, which lost only to Malvern Prep in the Inter-Ac championship game last year.
“One of our mottos is humble and hungry,” Black said. “We like to keep working and take it one game at a time and really come together. This is my last year and I definitely want to leave it all out there as a team. It’s not so much about me but what we can do together with this new team and some of these new faces bonding together and making it a brotherhood like we have in years past.”
It’s been a steady growth for the Raiders, who have now established themselves as one of the nation’s top programs.
“This is our fourth year here now and the culture has come together,” Whitlow said. “These are great young men from great families and they are exceptional students who are serious about their craft. The new guys that we added are just the right kind of guys. They are character guys and team-first guys who have been embraced by the returners. And some of the younger guys have grown up. Jake Keller is a sophomore who was one of the best players on the field today.”
