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Manhasset won back-to-back New York State Class C championships in 2009 and ’10.

Then, in 2011, the Indians moved up to Class B, joining their longtime archrival, Garden City.

The Trojans have defeated ‘Set in the Nassau Class B title game each of the last three years, winning state titles the last two season.

Last spring, Manhasset won the teams’ Woodstick Classic regular-season meeting, 9-7, on April 27 at Manhasset. But in Woodstick 2, GC handled ‘Set 10-4 to win its third straight Section 8 Class B title.

All told, Manhasset has advanced to the Nassau County finals 13 times in the last 14 seasons. Manhasset’s run of 12 straight title-game appearances ended with an 11-17 loss to Wantagh in the 2012 Nassau semis. The last time ‘Set failed to make the final prior to that was 1999, when it fell to GC 10-9 in the Section 8 semis. GC then fell to Lynbrook in the title game.

So front and center on Manhasset’s mind entering the 2014 season is Garden City. This year’s Woodstick Classic regular-season confrontation is Saturday, May 3 at GC.

But Manhasset has plenty of other big games — and big rivals — to focus on as the start of preseason practices draws near.

For more on Manhasset, we turn to one of the top midfielders on Long Island, senior James Farrell.

Farrell, who is also a standout in football, has one more varsity season before moving on to the University of Pennsylvania for the start of a promising college career.

Now, here are James’ perspectives on the upcoming season.

What have you been doing to get ready for the season?
As a team, we play in a winter league with games every Sunday followed by a workout and practice with our coaches. We get to play against a lot of great competition and are able to stay in shape and get ready for the upcoming season.

How does your schedule look, what games are you looking forward to most, and who are some of your scrimmages against?
As always, we have a very tough conference schedule. We also have a great non-conference schedule with games against Chaminade, Darien, Cold Spring Harbor, and, of course, Garden City in the Woodstick Classic.

What players on your team do you think will surprise some people this season?
I think goalie John Young will do a great job in net this year. Our team has a lot of goalie talent and goalie competition in practice is fierce. John has two years of varsity lacrosse already under his belt and I think he is poised for a great year.

Two other players I think that will have great years are Ryan Kiess and Ryan Miller, both of whom are very tough and aggressive players.

What do you think the strength of your team will be this year?
The strength of our team is definitely our chemistry and our ability to make plays. We have a great number of talented players as well as role players.

Our team consists of players with high lacrosse IQs and that is certainly credited to our coaching staff and how we practice. Our mentality is to always be unselfish and to draw the slide and move the ball.

How do you view the race in your league and who do you think some of the contending teams will be?
Our goal this year is to win the county title and win all of our conference games. Class B always has great teams in the playoffs and to win a county title would be a great achievement. We, of course, always want to beat Garden City and keep the Woodstick in Manhasset.

* Preseason player perspective archive