WINDHAM — Andrew Trudel left no doubt about what his greatest passion on the lacrosse field is.
“I love hitting kids,” said Trudel with a wide smile. “I love it.”
And when the senior defender saw his chance to set the tone on Wednesday afternoon, against rival Salem, he did so in bone-crushing fashion.
“Their guy was carrying the ball over, and his head wasn’t completely up,” said Trudel. “I was just able to come at him when he wasn’t expecting it. I got him right along the sideline. It was great.”
A four-year varsity stalwart and returning Eagle-Tribune All-Star, who will next play lacrosse at Saint Anselm College, the hard-hitting Trudel has grown into the driving force on the Windham (4-1) back line.
His ability to control a game was on full display on Wednesday, leading a Jaguar defense that surrendered just four shots on goal to Salem for the entire game, in a thoroughly dominant 14-2 victory on Wednesday. It was Windham’s second straight game allowing just two goals, and two of those shots and one of the goals on Wednesday were in the final two minutes.
“We went into this game with the intent to lock them down,” said Trudel. “We focused on their ride, we didn’t let many balls get through transition, and we really focused on pushing around the guys we knew were weaker so that we could get to the ground balls. We wanted to be physical.”
While the 6-foot-1, 195-pounder never misses out on the chance to deal out punishment, Trudel is a complete defender whose contributions to the Jaguars are wide-ranging. He recorded 152 ground balls last season as a junior, tops among returning players this spring.
“My role is to tell everyone where to go,” he said. “I tell everyone who is doing what, who is on ball and who is going next. I get people in the right place. I’m the only defender that’s been on the varsity team for two years, and I play club lacrosse. I can see more on the field than anyone else, and that allows me to help tell them where they should be going.”
“To me, defense is a lot about playing off-ball, figuring out where the ball is going and who is on who. You have to anticipate where the ball is going, and go for it.”
His anticipation was on point against Salem. He regularly broke up offensive chances both with his stick and by throwing his body around, and seemed to track down and take possession of every key ground ball. and if it wasn’t him, he could be seen guiding an teammate.
Led by Trudel, the Jags rarely allowed the Blue Devil advance past midfield, and when they did, Windham prevented any quality attempts in front of the net.
Windham head coach Derek St. Cyr said he feels very fortunate to have Trudel as the backbone of his defense.
“He’s our senior captain and defensive leader,” said St. Cyr. “He’s a four-year varsity starter who is headed to play at Saint Anselm. He’s our anchor. He’s the foundation of our defense. He’s like having a coach out there. He calls out the slides, he makes sure the guys are where they need to be. He has that experience of playing at a high level for a long time. He is huge, really huge for us.”
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