From humble beginnings, Shawsheen boys’ lacrosse has spent a quarter-century building to this point

Chuck Baker was there at the start, in 2001, when Shawsheen launched a boys’ lacrosse program with a simple idea: provide a competitive spring activity for football and hockey players.

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Now in his 21st season as head coach, Baker has shaped the Rams into a vocational power that has lost only one regular season game the past three seasons.

Shawsheen advanced to its first Division 3 quarterfinal last year — in addition to winning the state vocational title. But the Rams are not satisfied.

“Everyone has their key goals,” Baker said. “Ours are always making sure we don’t give up the [Commonwealth] league title, taking the Mass state vocational title, and obviously the state title is always the biggest goal, as any team. If it’s not, then you’re doing it for the wrong reason.”

Their mantra all season: “All in.”

Assistant coach Scott Hewitt, who teaches in the school’s graphics department, designed shirts featuring the slogan.

“All in” denotes entering uncharted territory. Shawsheen is challenged by the MIAA’s power-ranking system; specifically strength of schedule, often dictated by conference games. The result is a lower seeding, and stiffer competition early.

“I think we hit that wall that we’ve been at for years now where we can’t crack it in the state tournament,” said senior midfielder Jack Martins, of one five captains. “This year really feels like we [broke through], and now it’s uphill from there.”

Ranked , the Rams (17-0) closed out the regular season Wednesday night vs. Belmont. Next up is Tuesday’s vocational title game vs. the Blackstone Valley/Tri-County winner, then the state tournament.

Shawsheen has an EMass-leading 318 goals, while conceding just 46.

Martins (28 goals, 21 assists), who is committed to Southern New Hampshire, recently surpassed 100 career goals. Fellow captain Nate Malandain, with a 74 save percentage, has 300-plus career saves.

Another senior captain, Jacoby Patterson,has emerged as the centerpiece offensively; the AIC-bound attack has recorded 61 goals and 40 assists.

“Patterson’s one of those kids that’s not going to give up on a ball, not going to give up on a ride,” Baker said. “He’s tenacious out there . . . He’s had a great career here with me and on top of it, he’s a great kid.”

Sophomore Josh Baker, the coach’s son, has racked up 40 goals and 36 assists, freshman attack Jack Carbone(43 goals, 17 assists) has made an immediate impact, and junior Quinn Carbonehas contributed 34 goals and 29 assists.

Patterson and Josh Baker are among several on the roster who also play hockey for the elder Baker. The Shawsheen hockey team played in the Division 3 semifinals this past winter, and they’re hoping to recreate that postseason run.

Over the years, Baker has evolved as a coach. Early on, his approach was constant intensity. When that no longer worked, he altered his tactics to emphasize fun and strong personal relationships.

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“I tell these kids all the time — I’m 51 years old — I look at these guys like they’re my own kids,” Baker said. “I try to teach them more than on the field or on the ice lessons; I try to teach them true life lessons.”

Coaching at a trade school means most students arrive already wired to work hard. But Baker also stresses the importance of punctuality and verbal communication, especially in the digital age. He has found that players are more willing to buy into that kind of approach, and the results have followed.

“We realized what we were capable of, now we know what it takes to get there,” said D-pole Shane O’Neill. “We all know what we got to do, we just got to go out there and do it.”

▪ The regular season ends on Memorial Day, although most teams wrap up their schedules Friday or Saturday. After a working day, the MIAA will release the brackets for all four divisions Wednesday and tournament games can begin Friday, May 29. The tournament will run through state finals dates June 12 and 13 at Worcester State . . . If the latest power rankings hold, Lincoln-Sudbury will be the top seed in Division 1, defending champion Billerica will lead , Norwell will lead after winning the D4 state title last year, and South Shore champion Cohasset will be the favorite in as the top seed.

▪ For the first time since joining the Independent School League a decade ago, Tabor Academy won the league title Sunday. The top-seeded Seawolves navigated the fifth ISL tournament by beating two-time defending champion Belmont Hill in the semifinals and taking down St. Sebastian’s, 14-10, in the final . . . On Saturday, Pingree used lockdown defense to best Dexter, 5-4, securing a second consecutive New England Scholastic League title . . . Hamden Hall battled Berwick Academy (Maine) in the McCoy Cup Final on Wednesday at Wheaton College.

▪ Stoughton senior Sean Rockwood became the program’s first player to reach 100 career goals during a 14-1 win over Taunton . . . Medway senior Justin Pillard scored seven times in his final appearance to finish with 105 career goals . . . Abington senior Lee Spry reached 100 career goals last Friday.

▪ Mansfield coach Tim Frias earned his 200th career win last Wednesday. Mansfield (18-0) and Shawsheen (16-0) are the only undefeated teams left in the MIAA.

Thursday, No. 3 Mansfield at No. 4 Acton-Boxborough, 3:30 p.m. —This is the first nonleague test for the undefeated Hornets since they won the Chowda Cup, and A-B has won 11 straight.

Friday, No. 1 St. John’s Prep at No. 11 Hingham, 6 p.m. —The five-time defending Division 1 champs head south for their season finale against a perennial D2 power.

Friday, No. 8 Winchester at No. 16 Andover, 7 p.m. —The Red & Black look to bounce back from their first loss of the season against an Andover team that seems to exclusively play close games.

Saturday, No. 7 Reading at No. 2 Lincoln-Sudbury, 11 a.m. —Teams have struggled to hang with Lincoln-Sudbury in recent nonleague matchups, but the Rockets are flying high with an elite defense.

Saturday, No. 5 Billerica at No. 6 BC High, 12 p.m. —Kam Tremblay buried the winner with 16 seconds left for a thrilling 8-7 Billerica win when these teams met at the end of last season.

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Correspondent Nate Weitzer contributed to this story.