Thursday, October 1, 2026
Offensively, the Elmont boys’ lacrosse team is going to look a little different, considering it graduated a couple of key pieces. Defensively, it returns three seniors who will play important roles.
Seniors Kirkley Grant, Ainsley Guerrier and Aidan Barnes will be the last line of defense and fulfill leadership roles for a team that’s coming off a 3-12 season in the fourth ability-based conference. Those three lead a senior-heavy roster.
“In the last couple of years, we’ve been young and a lot of kids came into high school not ever playing lacrosse before,” said coach Connor Bennardo. “It was definitely a learning curve, but a lot of them are seniors now and they have the experience.”
From an offensive standpoint, a couple of names stand out to Bennardo: Senior midfielder Gustavo Solario and senior attacker Guygslee Chery.
“The offense is going to run through Gustavo,” Bennardo said. “He’s probably going to be the guy who has the ball on his stick a lot. He’s a very good midfielder; he’s got a great shot. We’re looking for him to take a big step.
“We’re excited to have him [Chery] back,” Bennardo said. “He’s kind of the quarterback of the offense in a way. So between Gus and Guygslee, we're hoping that they kind of step up and then we have some nice complementary pieces around them as well.”
Those ‘complementary pieces’ are a pair of midfielders in senior Jadyn Cajuste and sophomore Emmanuel Omoseyin.
As a team, Bennardo has set a standard at practice, as well as an identity he hopes his team is defined by.
“They’re very competitive, which we love,” Bennardo said. “They’re all multi-sport athletes. We have high-intensity practices. They love to get after each other a little bit, which we love because it leads to a really good practice.”
As for the identity.
“We want to compete,” Bennardo said. “Win ground balls, make the game ugly. We have great athletes and good competitors. We want to make it a slug fest. That’s our motto: Let’s make it ugly.”
To read more about Elmont Spartans' 2026 girls lacrosse team, click here. To see more of the Herald’s 2026 Lacrosse Preview, click here.
