High school lacrosse: Cyclones’ Macutek wants to take game to higher level this spring

“Normally we kind of do that, we get to practice a little earlier than the coaches and do any type of cardio,” Macutek said. “Sometimes we’ll run around the school or do sprints or stairs, just any thing to make sure that we’re keeping up with our endurance and just that quick burst that you need. And I’ve seen girls, just as a team, our times are so much faster then we first started, so it’s great to see that improvement, too.”

“She’s just very driven,” Watertown first-year coach Taylor Purvis said of Macutek.

This comes naturally for Macutek who likes to run and this is one of the primary reasons she enjoys lacrosse.

“I know not everybody can say this, but really I do love to run,” Macutek said. “And a middie does a lot of the running, so I love that aspect, I love playing offense and I love playing defense and I love being on the draw circle. I think being a middie is so great to me because you can do everything, and for me that’s just like really awesome and really cool to learn all the different aspects of the game.”

She’s also been called upon for even more leadership this year for the Cyclones as she captains the team along with senior Payten Vautrin.

“And I just really want to be the best leader that I can,” Macutek said. “Push everyone to do the best they can every day, push myself and really make sure that we’re coming to practice working as hard as possible, we’re winning games. We have great team bonding, team chemistry.”

“From the very first day of practice like when I met Alex, she’s definitely shown a leadership role,” Purvis said. “She is capable of so many different things on the field, if we ask her to be a driver from the top, she’s able to do that. If we ask her to defend a specific player and shut them out, she’s able to do that. She works on the draw circle for us, she’s one of those players who never stops hustling, she’s always working to get better, a positive role model for even the younger players.”

Last season as a sophomore, Macutek paced Watertown in goals with 79 with a team-high 96 points.

“I think it’s just all about focusing on this year,” Macutek said. “It’s this year, it’s how I can be a leader for my team and how we can win games and be successful as a unit. That’s really the biggest part, because you need your whole team to win games.”

Macutek’s impact is felt well beyond the scoresheet as she’s also guides the team’s transition game and playing a vital role on defense.

“Definitely, transition is a huge part,” Macutek said. “And there’s so many scoring opportunities that can come off of transition and just as midfielders we work really hard on being able to push the ball up. And then our attackers are able to kind of clear out and then we can either draw and dump, or they can cut in, just so many opportunities.”

Macutek has generated 12 goals and assisted on three others in five games this season to pace the Cyclones in scoring.

“I think this year she’s already learned how much more she can do than just score,” Purvis said. “I think at the beginning of the season just walking on, I think that’s what everybody expected of her. But she’s also making assists, she’s coming up with caused turnovers and getting the ground ball. She’s running our defense from a midfield perspective, transition wise she’s kind of our go-to (player) to move the ball or least spread out the field so that the ball can’t be moved up the field efficiently/ She’s just all over the place — there’s a lot more to her than just scoring goals.”

Macutek and her sister, Olivia, an eighth-grader, are both on the draw circle for faceoffs.

“I definitely prefer to be on the circle than taking the draw,” Macutek said. “But Amalia Netto, who is in eighth grade, has stepped into our draw position role and she’s done a great job, she’s always practicing it, and then it’s also cool to have me and my sister on the other side of the draw circle.”

Playing a strong team defense can lead to success offensively, too.

“And our defensive unit has just been great this year with just ground balls and forced turnovers,” the older Macutek said. “And that’s not always what people look at, some see goals and assists, but your defense is so important and we just love to make sure that they know that we appreciate all that they do. They come and work hard everyday and we’ve been super proud of our defense.

“And Ava Virga as been in goal for us and she is having a great season for us. Just a ton of big saves for us in big games when we really need it.”

Watertown is off to a 3-2 start, with all of its games in the Frontier League.

“There’s definitely a ton of talent, a ton of girls that play all year long for travel teams, a lot of them we play with on the same travel team,” Alex Macutek said. “So it’s kind of cool you can play against them for your separate teams during the school season.”

Last year, the team forged a 12-win season and won a sectional quarterfinal at home over Central Square, before being edged out by West Genesee, 12-11, in a Class B semifinal.

“Last year it was awesome to be able to get that first sectional win against Central Square and it definitely got our whole team super excited,” Alex Macutek said. “We were so ready to play West Genny, we fell short by one goal, I know everybody that’s still on the team this year remembers it, we don’t want that feeling again, so it was just really heartbreaking. But we were proud of how far we went last year and we want to go even further this year and that’s the goal from years to come.”

Macutek grew up following the Cyclones’ successful girls lacrosse program, at a time led by the twin sister duo of Jill and Lauren Girardi.

Now this group of Watertown players are hoping to forge their own legacy and continue to build off last season’s success.

“Yes, they were amazing and that’s what we want to get back to,” Alex Macutek said.

Purvis took over for Tony Hazard after she previously served as an assistant coach at Jefferson Community College, and working with the Patriots youth and club lacrosse program.

“I was extremely thrilled when they offered me the position,” said Purvis, who played at General Brown and then later at Ithaca College. “Obviously lacrosse has been a huge part of my life for a long time and it’s a big transition for me. But I was excited about the opportunity. They work super hard, they make it fun to be their coach, they’re extremely respectful and are really talented, too.”

The new coach’s system is different in some ways, but winning remains the primary objective.

After high school, Alex Macutek has verbally committed to attend NCAA Division I Bucknell in Pennsylvania.

“Honestly, our team as a ton of speed,” she said. “We do a lot of running as a team just to make sure, because running and having that kind of speed in lacrosse is super important, and our whole team has worked really hard on conditioning.”

Having played lacrosse since she was in elementary school as well as travel lacrosse, Alex Macutek also volunteers to work with youth in the area.

“I’ve helped out some younger girls with lacrosse, it’s just really exciting to see how the sport has grown and it’s nice to get the younger generations involved, too,” she added.