Jack Provencher returns to anchor the HHS defense.

Hopkinton High School’s boys lacrosse program has enjoyed increasing success over the past couple of seasons, despite having a relatively young team. This year, coach Dan Norton’s squad is still young in spots but has a quartet of experienced senior captains leading the way.

“It’s a really hard-working group,” Norton said. “I think the senior leaders that we have are great. This team has been together for a few years, and this group has really helped bring the program back since the pandemic.”

The captains have made an impression on Norton early on.

“This team practices very hard and competes,” he said. “Just the way the guys take the field at practice has been huge each time we are out there, because of our captains. We are pushing to get better each and every day.”

Defensemen Wyatt Iantosca and Jack Provencher, midfielder John Sanda and attacker Logan DelPonte are the captains, and each of them brings a significant amount to the field.

Norton described Iantosca and Provencher as “carbon copies of each other.”

“They are both tall. Wyatt has excellent stick skill, throws really good checks, he plays with physicality and very good technique,” Norton said. “Jack is a very rangy, athletic kid with a good stick. They push the ball in transition and they hang out and play a little offense with the long pole.”

Iantosca is planning to continue his lacrosse career next season at Endicott College.

In the midfield, Sanda is strong on both offense and defense.

“He is kind of like our lunch pail kind of guy,” Norton said. “He doesn’t always get a ton of credit for the things he does, they don’t show top in the stat sheet, but he impacts the game greatly at the midfield position.”

As for DelPonte, he is the team’s “fiery leader,” his coach said.

“In addition to being an excellent lacrosse player, he is one of the best true leaders that I have ever had the pleasure to coach,” Norton said. “He is a perfect mix of building guys up and also pushing them. Guys on the team love him. He demands a lot of his teammates, and he demands a lot of himself.”

All four captains also are doing a significant amount of work to help out with the town’s youth lacrosse program, which Norton noted is a big part of the team’s philosophy. The combination of hard work in practice and the focus on youth development makes Norton a “very happy coach.”

“I am just really excited to have this team continue to get better and better and reach our full potential,” he said. “There is a good nucleus of leaders, and it’s a great group of kids that is helping to bring pride in the program back in school, in the community and, hopefully, on the field as we continue to improve.”