During the 2023 lacrosse season, the Ram’s offense was electric with the coaching duo of Fred Hedengren and new assistant coach Andrew Decicco. Predominantly fueled by a deep bench of seniors, the Oratory Prep’s Varsity Lacrosse squad won the Kimber Conference. Senior attackman Harrison Loyd (2023), broke Oratory’s single-season points record, and senior midfielder Chris Mcniff (2023) had the most single-season points of any midfielder in OP history. Both these stars have graduated along with the team’s star faceoff man, senior Quinn Boylan (2023).
Coach Decicco is taking on the head coaching role for the 2024 season and preparing to transition to a new, much younger team. As he maps his strategy, Coach Decicco knows the Rams must figure out how to close the scoring gap left by graduating seven of their eight double-digit point scorers from the 2023 season. In 2024, the Rams must rely on the returns to take a step of progression and lead the team. The Ram’s attack line will be quarterbacked by senior, Florida Southern commit, Grayson Thompson (2024), Grayson is the only returning offensive starter from last year’s squad. Alongside Thompson will be transfer, Connor Powers, (2025), who has recently committed to play lacrosse at Saint Lawrence University. Another key returning player is Swiss Army Knife, Hunter Lloyd, who spent much of last season playing defensive midfield. A versatile player, Lloyd will step into Boylan’s spot at the faceoff stripe and will also play offense for the Rams. The squad will also have to lean into new talent like Pat Barrett (2025) was the leading scorer on JV last year and was moved up to varsity for the playoffs. Another player who was moved up for the playoffs was Taylor Brezee (2026), who led the 2023 JV in assists.
Fortunately, the defense returns some key juniors who played a pivotal role last year. Both Luke Odendahl and Ian Heffernan need to step up and hold the defense down. Luke played a lot of close defense last year, but at the end of the year, he played some LSM and had a number of great passes in transition. The Rams can expect Odendahl to be a transition threat this year for the Rams. Heffernan, another solid force on the defense, was second on the team in the ground balls during the 2023 season. Senior Alex Parisi (2024) will return to the goalkeeper role for a second season, adding veteran leadership to the defense. The other key returner to the backfield is Joe Bateh (2026 ), who played short stick and LSM defense last year. Bateh will be expected to step up into a starting role this year to round out the defense.
Despite all the changes, the young Rams lacrosse team has been putting in the work to come out ready to fight for the wins. Starting early in the fall with strength and agility training, the squad has now moved into Winter practices and has been learning how to play together. They know that similar to last year, Oratory will face many tough teams, including the opener against the only team in the conference to beat the 2023 squad, New Providence. Another formidable opponent will be Johnson, who Oratory beat in double overtime last year. They will be one of the biggest challenges for the division because they return most of their top players from 2023. With a young team, Oratory will have an uphill climb in many games this year, but from what they have shown during the offseason, the players are up for the challenge.