Higgins is an old man on a young team

BOWMANVILLE -- Zach Higgins went from being a kid to an old man in the matter of one year.

But he would argue that point.

"It still feels like I'm really young," laughed the netminder at the situation he finds himself in with the Clarington Green Gaels Jr. B lacrosse club.

Last season, on a veteran squad, he was a rookie and a young one at that, at just 16 years of age. This season, with an entirely new roster on the floor, he has gone from rookie to veteran without the conventional stop in between of a couple of seasons that most players enjoy.

"It's just my second year, but I'm supposed to be a veteran. I'm only 17, so taking a leadership role is new to me and I have to learn to do that still," he said.

The Courtice resident got the call in the season opener last week and was extremely sharp, allowing just three goals in a 15-3 win over Mississauga. Of those three goals, two of them came with Mississauga enjoying a five-on-three power play.

To say the Green Gaels coaching staff is thrilled to have Higgins back in the fold would be an understatement. In fact, head coach Jason Crosbie predicted big things for the young netminder.

"He was fantastic (against Mississauga) and he is going to be fantastic all year. He was fantastic last year as a rookie," said Crosbie. "With a year under his belt, you could see the confidence level he had."

Higgins is part of a goaltending tandem that includes Matt Chamois, who also has some Jr. B experience after playing last season in Mississauga. The goal for Higgins this year is to duplicate a rookie campaign that included a 9-0-0 record and 5.68 goals against average in a regular season that the Green Gaels were a perfect 20-0-0.

"I'm going to try and do better than I did last year, keep the same numbers," said the Courtice Secondary School student. "I don't want to try to go overboard and push too far and then something bad happens. I'm just going to try to be consistent and play at the top of my game all the time."

As for the makeup of this year's team, he likes the youthful exuberance.

"We work hard and have an intensity that I've never seen before and it helps a lot," he said. "The young presence is good."

THE SCOOP -- The Green Gaels picked up a couple of victories on the weekend, winning 12-9 in Cornwall on Saturday and 9-4 in Akwesasne on Sunday afternoon to improve to 3-0-0 on the season. Mike McCusker led the way in Cornwall with three goals and three assists, while Ryan Serville had three goals and one assist. Josh Merzbacher was the leading scoring Sunday, potting three goals and adding two assists... The Markham Ironheads come to town on Thursday at 8 p.m.

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