New Johnston program improving, ready for its debut

It’s not even two weeks old, but head coach Jay Areson likes the direction of the brand new Johnston girls’ lacrosse program.

“From when we started last Monday, skill-wise I’ve already seen a much-improved effort out of everybody,” Areson said. “Catching and passing has greatly improved. They’re really picking it up fast.”

That’s the name of the game for year one in Johnston girls’ lacrosse – improvement. Not a single player on the entire roster has ever played lacrosse before, besides a few of the girls going to a clinic in mid-February.

That means that Areson and assistant coach Amanda Areson are starting from scratch, as they prepare their group of brand new lacrosse players for the world of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s Division III.

While it’s the lowest of the three leagues in the state, it still has plenty of viable competition. Making it more difficult is that due to construction on the football complex, Johnston doesn’t have a field and will play all of its games on the road. As of now though, the Panthers are focused on learning the sport.

But excitement is there, and so is the willingness to learn. With those two things in place, growth within the game should come next.

“It’s been a little cold,” Areson said on Wednesday, “but every girl has come. We actually had three new girls sign up yesterday. So I think as the sport progresses this season we might pick up a few more.”

There are only two seniors on the roster – giving the program a few years to build up with some of the underclassmen – but there are plenty of the school’s top athletes out for the team. They’re raw in their lacrosse ability, but their athleticism has already shined through in practice.

At the top of that list is the DiRaimo sister, Isabella and Alex. Alex was a standout on the volleyball team and a key contributor on the basketball team, while Isabella was one of the top player son the basketball team and also on the volleyball team.

They’re going to start off the season up front, with Isabella DiRaimo taking the draws.

“Offensively, the DiRaimo girls will definitely be there,” Areson said.

A few other girls have stood out in practice, including Dana Desmarais – a key contributor on the volleyball and basketball teams – and Lauren Tedesco, who plays both soccer and basketball.

Areson also pointed to sophomore Jocelyn Cabral and Amber Dion as two players who have practiced well, plus Samantha and Christina Hardman, a freshman and junior, respectively.

“To be honest with you I was hoping that the athletes would come out, and that seems to be the case,” Areson said.

Right now in goal junior Elizabeth Domaingue is penciled in to start, with sophomore Sarah Tedeschi serving as the back-up.

“Neither one has never played,” Areson said. “It’s tough being in practice getting those shots that close on you. But they’re sticking in there – I give them a lot of credit for that.”

Johnston will play in Division III-South along with Chariho, Pilgrim and Westerly. Chariho and Pilgrim each went 8-3 last year, and Pilgrim was the D-III runner-up.

Having the Chargers and Patriots in their subdivision should make things a little bit difficult, but the Panthers aren’t expecting to come out and just roll over.

They’re planning on competing, inexperienced or not.

“To be honest with you, I think the wins will be there this year,” Areson said. “I can see it coming. Maybe not right away, but I can definitely see us improving enough where we’ll definitely be competitive. We’ll surprise a few teams for a first year program.”

So far, Johnston hasn’t had a chance to see itself in action against anyone but itself, but that will change this week. The Panthers are scheduled to scrimmage Warwick Vets on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Bend Street Complex in Warwick. They have another scrimmage on Monday at Lincoln High School at 3:30 p.m.

Then it’s right into the regular season. Johnston opens up Wednesday at Chariho at 4:15 p.m. before traveling to Pilgrim next Friday for a 5:15 p.m. game.

Lacrosse in Johnston is underway.

“I said to them basically, ‘As a goal, we’re just going to see a big improvement from day one until the end of the season,’” Areson said.