Bombers celebrated 60th season by breaking records

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It was fitting that the Boonton boys lacrosse team, celebrating its 60th year, had several players rewrite the record books.

Colin Bostrom, Connell Koba, Christian Fokas and Cody Larsen, all seniors, earned their spots in program lore with impressive accomplishments. Although the Bombers lost several key starters to injuries, the quartet’s achievements kept the season interesting.

Bostrom, a midfielder and four-year starter, finished his career with records for single season points (104), all-time career assists (161) and all-time career points (260).

“I feel as if all of the hard work and determination have led me to become as successful as I am but, of course, I couldn’t do it without the help of my teammates,” Bostrom said.

Bostrom, a first team all-conference selection, prefers assists over goals and gains satisfaction from “putting my teammates in a position to succeed.” He had his eye on being the points leader for awhile.

“When you are climbing the ranks, you should only be thinking of the top,” said Bostrom, set to play at Susquehanna University.

Koba, a faceoff specialist, came back strong after sitting out his junior year with a torn ACL. He holds the single season and career faceoff wins records. Coach Mickey Norton said Koba put in extensive work in the off-season to make sure he’d be back on the turf.

“It feels incredible to be in such prestigious company,” said Koba, who amassed 255 career faceoff wins. “To have my name immortalized in Boonton lacrosse history is a surreal feeling.”

An attackman early in his career, Koba began taking faceoffs at the end of his sophomore year. He has a knack for winning faceoffs. Koba explained how he does it.

“To win faceoffs, I make sure I am in a stance that is comfortable and I control my breathing as best as I possibly can,” he said. “It’s important to stay focused and ready for the whistle.”

Fokas, an attackman, recorded 74 goals this spring, a single-season mark, and became the all-time scoring leader with 147 goals. Fokas, also headed to Susquehanna, was a first team all-conference and second team all-state selection.

“Christian pulled his hamstring pretty bad during the county playoff game,” Norton said. “He could have easily been done for the season but he did not want to end his career like that. He didn’t miss a single game and fought through the pain and finished the season the way that he did.”

His dream of being the all-time goal scorer came into focus at midseason when he realized that he could surpass the numbers put up by those before him.

“It feels great knowing that I achieved something that no one else has in the past 60 years and that my name will be in the trophy case for, hopefully, a long time,” Fokas said.

Career highlights? Breaking the goals record and celebrating with his friends and teammates and scoring on a last-second play before halftime.

Larsen, a four-year starter, also garnered first team all-conference and second team all-state honors with standout efforts as goalie. Norton referred to Larsen, who had 1,091 all-time saves, as “an unbelievable talent.” Larsen’s saves put him second all-time in New Jersey and 11th in the country. He will attend Eastern University.

“We don’t win 12 games this year and 40 over the last four years without Cody,” Norton said.

Boonton, which had seven seniors on its roster, got off to a fast start despite losing the first game. From there, the Bombers reeled off seven straight victories before being hit hard by injuries.

There was no choice but to go on and Boonton, one of the four oldest teams in New Jersey, ended 12-8 overall and 4-2 in the NJILL-Klank Division.

“Our relationships with one another off the field was one of the most important factors to our success,” Koba said. “Our team chemistry was through the roof this season and we were able to make plays that wouldn’t have been possible if we did not know one another so well.”

Fokas attributed the strong showing to a number of additional factors.

“The thing that made the team excel this year was that everyone played their role and did what the team needed,” Fokas said. “The unselfishness on this team has been the best I have seen in my four years of playing.”

All photos courtesy of Brooke Pisarcik. Christian Fokas is the featured image.