While most students were soaking up the sun and enjoying spring break, the Elizabethtown College men’s lacrosse team remained on campus to face two challenging games against Washington College and Kean University. Unfortunately, these teams had the upper hand and won. Despite losing, the team did not lose heart.
“These losses exposed our weaknesses and helped us understand what we need to improve,” senior captain Shawn Corcoran said in an email interview.
The team faced other setbacks during the games over spring break.
“We have suffered a large number of injuries that has set a number of players back,” Head Coach Terry Corcoran said in an email interview. “Injuries can definitely put a team at a disadvantage.”
However, the team was definitely on top of their game March 14 and March 17 during games against Frostburg State University and Immaculata University. The contests were somewhat close, with Etown winning against Frostburg 12-9 and Immaculata 9-7.
“One of the best plays I can recall is Sean O’Neill finishing a fast break goal against Frostburg State. It was a big time momentum goal,” Shawn Corcoran said.
These two games showed the team’s improvement. This past Saturday, while attending the game against Immaculata, it was evident that the team was very quick to react as far as face offs. “To improve our game at face offs, we have been practicing them more often. We also added players like Jason Kelly and Brian Boring to the face off team to come up with the ground ball,” Shawn Corcoran said.
The coach has noticed an improvement in the face offs as well. “Our face off men have been working hard in practice and our wings are doing an outstanding job,” Terry Corcoran said.
Another improvement that was made in these past two matches was the pace of the game. “We try to play a fast paced game,” Coach Corcoran said. “We need to cut down on our turnovers.”
First-year Russell LeClair, who plays midfield, was particularly scrappy during the game against Immaculata, scoring four points for the team. Shawn Corcoran and senior Derek Neiheiser, who also play midfield, contributed to the ultimate score with a hat trick from Shawn Corcoran and a last minute score in the first quarter from Neiheiser.
However, these three players aren’t the only ones scoring points for the team.
“This a very unselfish group. Everything is a team effort,” Terry Corcoran explained.
With 35 players, the team cannot afford to be selfish. Over break, the team bonded with two practices a day as well as going to see movies as a team.
But the season is not yet over. Next Saturday the team matches up against Misericordia University. To win this upcoming game, the Jays have to come up with strategies to continue their winning streak.
“We just need to work on possessing the ball on offense and winning face offs. The only way to improve in those areas is to keep practicing,” Shawn Corcoran said. The Blue Jays are certainly off to a great start to their season and show no signs of quitting.
