Lacrosse team falls flat on 'road-opener' weekend

By Larry Dressell

In their highly anticipated season opener on the road, the GMC Eagles Lacrosse men did anything but impress. A two game weekend was scheduled for March 11th and 12th, with stops first in New York City to play Mt. St. Vincent, then in Newark, NJ to play Kean College. Mt. St. Vincent was forced to forfeit due to a snow-covered field, whereas Kean racked up a more than legitimate 16-6 victory against the Eagles.

Although the Eagles came out on the road with enthusiasm, several factors contributed to their defeat. First, it was written plainly on the faces of the men that Mt. St. Vincent's forfeiture was a big disappointment. Then, when the team agreed to a scrimmage on a part of the illegal field not covered by snow, the Eagles men played half-heartedly.

In hardnosed lacrosse, very few goals should be scored from the well-guarded Goalie's crease, yet this is where Mt. St. Vincent scored the most. The bus ride back to the hotel contained a sour note that would ring during the next day's loss. The scrimmage had been the Eagles' first showing outdoors of the gym and it hadn't gone well.

Despite having played outdoors only once, the Eagles came out unusually flat on Saturday Mar. 12th against Kean. After more turnovers and wild passes than this reporter could count, the Eagles nevertheless held on to a reasonable 8-5 deficit at the end of the first half. Fundamental skills from passing and catching to refraining from profanity on the field evaporated as Kean ran up the score on the Eagles.

Above all, the loss was characterized by "bad attitudes," according to captain Gary Graser. "I can't put it more eloquently."

While the lacrosse program at GMC is by no means high profile, the team has traditionally found success in playing 'by the bootstraps.' In order to simply maintain enough numbers to take the field, the Eagles have gone so far as to recruit athletes from other sports such as soccer and ski racing. It is true that such players, though essential to the team, do not generally have much lacrosse experience under their belts.

"Recruiting has gotten harder," replied coach Bill Lowe when asked about the spare roster of 14 men, "since the move to [NCAA] Div. III." Division III forbids its member schools to give out athletic scholarships, which gives serious athletes less incentive to play for GMC. In this way, at least partially, GMC's change from Div. II to Div. III has hurt the performance of the Eagles lacrosse program.

Regardless of the collective level of talent and experience on the team, the call for attitude readjustment echoes in the Eagles locker room. "I don't care if you play at Syracuse, Hofstra, or some community college, if you don't have your head screwed on right, then you're not going to succeed in this game," concluded Graser when asked about the remaining 13 games left in the 15-game season.