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Garden City will start the season as the No. 7  team in the nation, according to Inside Lacrosse’s Preseason Power Rankings.

So you’ll be hearing a lot about the Trojans, who have 11 players who are planning to continue playing the sport in college.

For an in-depth and thorough look at the Trojans, be sure to check out the perspectives of Washington & Lee-bound senior midfielder Jared Mitchell.

* Player’s perspective archive

For background info on Jared Mitchell, click here.

What have you been doing to get ready for the season?
Well, a majority of my team and I attend a local training facility which includes running and lifting. Along with that, I either shoot outside when it’s nice out or work on faceoffs in my basement when the weather is bad.

Can you talk about some of the key players you lost from last year and how you think you will be able to replace them, especially on defense and in goal?
The major players who I think in the offensive end we’ll miss most Will Fuller and Mike Lind. In my eyes, our answer for Fuller will be a senior Dan Losardo, who  is also a big guy who has a similar style to Fuller. Dan has a big frame and uses his body well and is a lefty who will be able to play left handed wing possible better than Fuller from last year. The answer for Lind will be another fast and agile sophomore Patrick Berkery who really came into his own late in the season. He was able to absolutely smoke kids from up top and has been working on his shot to limit the number of misses he had from last year.

With respect to the defensive end, we’ll rely on captain Steve Jahelka to be a vocal leader and help command the defense. He along with veterans Brian Fischer, Kevin Dachille, Matt Montgomery and myself will have to make sure the defense is running properly.

In goal. it is going to be a battle. Senior Alex Castronova has had a phenomenal winter and will contend with sophomore Dan Marino. Both of whom have great hand and possibly better feet than their predecessors. Goal is not a position that I am worried about.

What regular-season games are you most looking forward to?
This is a pretty obvious answer. Manhasset. No senior can say that they have beaten Manhasset dating all the way back to PAL so it is pretty enticing to leave high school saying we won the one that counted most.

What players on your team do you think will surprise some people this season?
I already mentioned all of them, but, for me, the ones that’ll get heads turning will be Pat Berkery, Dan Losardo and the goalie (whoever it turns out to be). Along with this look for Tom Gordon to start where he finished last season he light up the score board in the playoffs and has really learned to use his body well and, I believe, has potential to be our leading scorer.

I also feel that  Bill Sweeney will be an integral part of our success in 2010. In my opinion, if he wasn’t on Garden City last year, with the strong defense we had, he would have been a starter and possibly the No. 1 pole at any other school. In order for us to have success, he is going to need to work and work well with Jahelka and limit the No. 2 attackman’s chances. As an All-Long Island football player and runner up for the Martone Award (best lineman in the Nassau County), Billy has phenomenal hands, which only compliment his great footwork which for a bigger guy are rare.

What do you think the strength of your team will be this year?
Depth. As it stands we have a dozen short stick mid-fielder who all received some playing time last year and on the attack have enough sticks to field to solid lines. The real worry will be a matter of if our defensive can rise to the occasion. My dad and I joke about the fact that we have enough depth for two teams and both would make the playoffs.

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