Courtney Overton
Staff writer
The men’s lacrosse team has been preparing for a huge season. Injuries aside, the players and coaches are looking forward to what this season has in store for them.
Sophomore Kyle Morris is the team captain this season. This will be his sixth season playing lacrosse. Morris is dedicated to being the best for his team. He spent the summer break and fall semester working out and trying to learn as much about the game as possible.
“I try my best to understand what my coach tells me when I make mistakes,” Morris said.
Coach Nathan Young is looking to his returners to lead the team. This group includes Morris as well as Kyle Van Kauwenberg, Mike Matthews and Sean Feeley. Coach Young believes he also has strong freshmen players and that this team could be one to grow and dominate in seasons to come.
Many freshmen look to these older players for inspiration. Red-shirted freshman Brandon Weise respects and admires junior Sean Feeley for his ability to play any position that the team needs.
“He started the year as a midfielder, but after the break he changed to defender to fill spots left empty after losing many players,” said Weise.
In the off season, the team practiced five days a week in addition to three days of weight training to get ready for the spring season. Since Jan. 6, the team has been practicing six days a week to prepare for each upcoming game. The team has a long season of 18 games stretching over three months.
“We’ve been gearing up for this season for a long while since August,” said Young.
“A game every week is going to be hard on our guys, but we’ve prepared for it with our preseason training.”
Morris said that though there will be many tough games, he is ready for all of them.
“I’m nervous about the whole season, but there’s no team on our schedule that scares me, though. I’m not that kind of a player,” said Morris.
The team will not get much of a spring break with two games against teams that Coach Young strongly desires to beat. One game is against Walsh, a team the Hawks lost to last season, and the other is Ohio Valley, a team that forfeited to the Hawks last year. Coach Young wants a definite “W” next to both of those games.
“We have a lot of games that are ‘big’ games, but I think a good three or four of them are going to be the huge ones for the year,” said Young.
The game against Lees- McRae will also be an interesting game for the team. Shorter’s former assistant coach is now the head coach of Lees-McRae, causing a friendly rivalry.
The team is experiencing several injuries that are causing them to have a small roster; however, Coach Young looks hopeful. He expects the players to all be ready within the next few weeks.
“Once we get everybody healthy, I think we’ll do a lot better, but it’s just making sure we can get everybody recovered.”
Starting with 38 players and dwindling to 22, the team has been able to bond through many things that have happened to them this season.
“The guys have gotten a lot tighter; they care about each other more and they’re determined more. They know that everybody matters,” said Young. “We have a deep enough roster now to where everyone matters.”
