For the Fallston High boys lacrosse team, it’s almost as if the 2006 regular season never ended.

The Cougars started last year with wins in just four of their first nine games, but then went 7-2 and worked their way to the regional final, where they lost to North Harford. With junior captains and a young team last year, they didn’t lose much in the offseason. And the team used the playoff loss as motivation, learning from last year’s lessons to improve. The overall result? An undefeated record.

“This really started back in January, and all these guys who weren’t playing winter sports got together,” Fallston coach Matt Parks said. “On March 1, they came out here and you could see it in their eyes that they wanted to do something special.”

Last year’s playoff loss to North Harford stung. The Cougars had turned a mediocre season quickly into a good one, only to see the run end a little too soon for their liking.

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“Losing to them was definitely our inspiration to work hard all offseason,” senior defender David New said.

Fallston’s 6-0 start this spring includes winning their own Fred Sheckell’s Tournament, something the team had never done before. But the season is only one-third finished, and Parks said the Cougars should be better.

“We’re still just not putting everything together,” he said. “We’re up and down. I think sometimes we rely on our talent to carry us through rather than focus on the fundamentals and everything we need to do.”

Tonight, Fallston has an prime opportunity to show its stuff in a home game against C. Milton Wright, which is 5-2. With last year’s playoff loss as motivation from the past and the hope of going to states this year as incentive for the future, the Cougars said continued improvement and success should come hand in hand the rest of this season.

“The sky is the limit,” senior defender Nelson Hannahs said.