Hall looking forward to positive season with Souhegan boys lacrosse

When Keith Bertrand took over as the head coach of the Souhegan High School boys lacrosse team before the start of the 2017 season, he had an idea of what kind of team he was inheriting.

After coaching at Nashua North, a Division I opponent, for several years, Bertrand saw the Sabers at least once a season and knew they were going to have a strong senior class that year, and had several promising up-and-coming players.

But one of those players was not Tyler Hall.

During the fall of his freshman year, Hall suffered an ACL injury and missed the remainder of his first year in high school. Upon returning to the lacrosse field as a sophomore, he quickly showed his new coach what he was capable of doing.

"To be honest, I didn’t even know who he was coming into this job," Bertrand said. "I did a little research on the roster, but I didn’t know Tyler until I got here and saw him play. He wasn't just varsity player (as a sophomore), but he’s been all-state the last two years, and I’m sure he’ll have a very similar season this year."

Hall, now a senior, never gave the injury much of a second thought, as he worked his way back to the level he'd been at before, and having played competitive club lacrosse before high school helped him adjust to what he was going to see playing on varsity.

"It was something to adjust to at the beginning," Hall said. "Once the year went on, and these past three years, I think it’s been great. We’ve had a lot we’ve gone through, but it’s been a lot of progress."

The Sabers hope that progress shows on the field this season after they went through a tough, injury-filled season in 2018. After making the playoffs every year following a return to Division I in 2013, Souhegan won just five games last year and missed out on the postseason.

It was a year that Hall and his teammates have tried to learn from, but also wanted to forget.

"I’ve just kind of left it to the side to not be seen again," he said. "We’re starting with a fresh, new slate, moving on to focus on this season. We weren’t clicking as well as we should.

"Preparing ourselves, we’re looking to have fun with it because maybe that’s something we didn’t have as much of last year. I think just putting that to the side is what we need to do and not focus on it all."

What Hall did focus on in the offseason was trying to make himself more of a complete player. While he is Souhegan's top faceoff guy and has always been a strong offensive player, Bertrand has seen his co-captain pick up more of a leadership role along with working on his play on the defensive end.

"He is significantly more offensive-minded, but he took a lot of faceoffs for us last year, and he will this year," the coach said. "That kind of wears him out for offense because we don’t have a designated FOGO. We had a conversation when he committed to Clarkson University, he’ll have to learn how to play better defense.

"He throws a very heavy ball. He’s so powerful and has such strong hips and upper body. The kid can shoot a ton. We’re really getting into the fine details of his dodge, trying to take him to the next level."

After playing football in the fall for the first time since middle school, and playing some box lacrosse over the winter, Hall is anxious to get the regular season started in a few weeks.

"I definitely need to stay on the field as much as I can," Hall said. "I’m more of an offensive middie, but I’m working on defense. I think, with it being senior year, I’ve been a lot more focused. Going into this season, I feel like maybe I’m more prepared than I usually would be because lacrosse has really been on my mind."