Lightridge Lacrosse team has had turn-around season this year, coming from a record last year of 6-10 to 15-4 this season, and making it to the district finals before being eliminated. There were many expectation changes and authority shifts that got the team to a winning season. This is Ari Morin’s first year as head coach and he quickly pivoted the team towards success. While the roster was mostly made up of the same players as last year, the team attitude has changed a lot.

“We (the players) definitely felt that there was something different coming into this season,” said senior and team captain, Luke Ducich. “There’s a lot more passion.”

“We had a reputation that was pretty negative in the past.” explained Ducich. “That’s not who we are as a team anymore. There is a much stronger emphasis on discipline this year.”

“The Spring 2026 season started in July 2025,” said head coach Ari Morin. Greendays, non-mandatory preseason practices, begin during the summer, so there is an opportunity to practice with the team year round. In addition to greendays, Lightridge Lacrosse players come together to form a team in the Virginia Elite Lacrosse league in the winter, also coached by Morin. In the past Lightridge has had to combine with other schools to form a team, due to lack of players. For the first time ever, this past winter, the team had all Lightridge players, and that gave the new team chemistry a head start.

“This is one of those sports where, the more you play with a teammate, the better you are together on the field,” said Morin. Since these players have been working together for so long now, there is a strong amount of trust amongst the players and the coaches.

Morin focuses on the players to building and strengthening their teamwork and leadership skills. He explained these skills will help the players throughout their whole life, and these are not skills that are learned in a class at school.

“I’ve gotten compliments from other athletic directors and whatnot, just about how we’ve carried ourselves,” said Morin.

“It’s not us (the coaches) talking, it’s the players, every player has a chance to speak their mind, call out good things and bad,” said Morin. The coaching staff allows the players to share their point of view on what the team did well and what to improve on. When Morin started this, the players were surprised because they hadn’t been able to contribute in that way before.

“We’re not the ones on the field, they are,” said Morin. Morin emphasized that the coaches are there to guide the players, but the players are “responsible for their own destiny”.

“Everything we do is for each other,” said Ducich. “Brotherhood is essentially the team’s theme word. The whole team keeps each other accountable and is honest with each other, even when it is something negative. This is what builds the trust and comradery on the team.”

“Deep down, only the athlete is gonna know if they gave everything they had for their brother or teammate on the field,” Morin explained. ”When you’re willing to sacrifice everything for your teammate, you’re on the way to becoming a better person, which is my ultimate goal as a coach.”

Unlike some other teams, lacrosse puts a strong emphasis on captains and their leadership. Each captain has their own method of leadership that contributes to the well rounded team.

“In 3 days of interacting with him (Ducich), I could tell he was a natural leader,” said Morin. “You can teach someone about leadership principles, but you can’t teach somebody to be a leader.”

“For me personally I try to do a lot of leading by example,” said Ducich. “If I expect the guys to be 15 minutes early to practice, then i’d be there with them doing the same thing”

The win numbers might have been drawing the attention, but the story behind it is what made it happen.