Senior helps create Ocoee lacrosse tradition

OCOEE — Seemingly always under the radar, but better than many would expect.

It is seemingly the modus operandi for the Ocoee boys lacrosse program.

With the regular season nearing its end, the Knights (6-7) are fighting for their third winning season in the past four years, a stretch that includes a pair of 10-win seasons, but the program rarely is named among Central Florida’s up-and-coming teams — something players such as Christian Bugara want to change.

“I want to make (lacrosse) a tradition here, honestly,” Bugara said. “I really want to see the lacrosse program really excel. We have a great coach — Coach (Richard) Kaetzel is a phenomenal coach. It bugs me that we don’t have as many people playing lacrosse here as we should.”

As Bugara, who has played for the Knights since his freshman year at Ocoee, sees it, the biggest affliction for the program has been participation. A lack of depth has hurt the Knights, particularly this spring, as has the lack of a youth feeder program to prepare players for the game before the varsity level.

Many of the program’s current and former players were newcomers to the game when they first stepped on the practice field for the Knights. Kaetzel and his staff have made a reputation for developing players, and Bugara said it is always fun to witness a teammate grow into a formidable varsity player.

“It’s awesome — I love seeing it,” Bugara said. “My best friend, Brice (Phillips), I got him into playing lacrosse. … Now he’s a starting attackman.”

In the past four seasons, Ocoee has a respectable record of 34-28. Still, the Knights often find themselves with a chip on their shoulder when taking on some of the area’s more well-known programs.

“Whenever we play teams that have feeder systems and youth leagues, we really want to stick it to them,” Bugara said. “We want to show them … that we can still put up a fight. We make sure they remember us.”

With just a game against Olympia remaining in the regular season, on April 1 after press time, the Knights are gearing up for the district tournament. With district rivals including West Orange, the Titans, Lake Minneola and East Ridge, emerging from the scrum will be a tall task but one Bugara said is possible if Ocoee comes ready to compete.

“Given our circumstance, I actually think we have done up to par with all of our other seasons,” Bugara said. “We didn’t have a (junior varsity) team this year, we had to work with what we had — we’ve had slim numbers.

“We might not have the individual talent that we had (in past seasons), but our team talent (collectively) is phenomenal.”

As for his big-picture hope of leaving the program in good shape for the future — and encouraging more would-be Knights to give the game a try — Bugara said finishing the season with another winning record would help and that Ocoee students who may be interested should give it a shot.

“Just give it a try — you’re never going to know if you like it or not if you don’t just come out and try,” Bugara said. “Our coach always says he’ll never turn down people and he’ll never cut from the team. … You never know — you might love it.”

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].