Conference: Rocky River Conference Class 2A

Coach: Michael Porro

Between the Lines:  Parkwood High is fielding a boys lacrosse team for the first time. … Six players on the roster did not play lacrosse before this season. … Head coach Michael Porro coached at the club level before becoming the Rebels first head coach.

 Parkwood High is in a building year and this far the results have been encouraging.

Parkwood is fielding a boys lacrosse team for the first time and head coach Michael Porro is confident that the Rebels are headed in the right direction.

Parkwood is 2-4 at the midway point of the season but Porro said the Rebels have a chance to end the season with as many wins as losses.

“This is real exciting for the school, the students and the players,” Porro said. “We want our players to represent the school in the highest way. We have had some good games. We have played some teams that have been around for five, six, seven years.

“But we take a lot of things back to practice and work on our offensive sets, our defensive sets to get ready for the next game. We are doing some good things.”

After filling out the roster, one of the biggest obstacles Parkwood and Porro have faced is creating team chemistry. Parkwood has several players that have played lacrosse on the club level for many years while a half dozen players picked up a stick for the first time this season.

“We are really trying to mix together a lot of different young men, including some players that have played a little bit,” Porro said. “We have really stressed them learning the fundamentals and them getting better every week. We want them to work hard for each other and build on this and build a good tradition here at Parkwood.”

Despite being a first-year program, Parkwood will have at least one player go on to play college lacrosse as senior Noah Flasch signed with Division II Lenoir-Rhyne. Flasch has experience playing club lacrosse and Porro said the senior has become a team leader.

“Noah is one of the best in the area on face-offs, and that is one reason he got a college scholarship,” Porro said. “Having him win face-offs and giving us more possessions is big. It’s huge for us because we need every possession that we can get. He has also taken the time to work with the younger guys on the team. He has pulled them aside and helped them with face-offs. He has also worked with the guys on catching and where to go on offense.”

Porro grew up in the Boston area and became involved in the sport around 10 years ago when his sons picked up the sport. Porro’s son, Andrew, is a sophomore on the Rebels lacrosse roster.

“I jumped in kind of out of necessity this year and we are leading the boys,” Porro said.