Only one month ago, the men’s lacrosse season was facing one the worst starts to their season with four losses in a row. Now the team looks to bring the momentum to their upcoming games as they’ve garnered a six-game win streak.
“Our focus has always been peaking at the right time, and I think that’s what we’ve done here,” senior and captain Jack Peters said. “We started off slow, but we’re peaking at the right time going into these big CCIW games that mean the most in our schedule.”
Although they are picking up speed, the team is going to have to play their hardest in their CCIW games the next few weekends as they play Carthage and Illinois Wesleyan this week. The Vikings will play Illinois Wesleya first and then will play against Carthage on Saturday at 3 p.m. These two games will be the last regular season games before the conference tournament.
Fellow senior and captain Taylor McGinnis said the games will be challenging for the team.
“I think they’re all going to be really tight games. It’s like any conference game; they’re always tight games and very competitive,” McGinnis said. “Our hope is to come out on top of all of them.”
The team has proved they can handle tough situations, especially in their close 12-11 win over Aurora University.
“For the seniors, beating Aurora was a huge goal,” Peters said. “That was a team that we hadn’t beaten in our four years here, and that was huge for us.
The biggest focus for the team right now is the preparation for their upcoming games and the conference games.
“I think we’re really prepared,and we’re going to be more prepared as we really do a good job of getting ready a few days before the games,” McGinnis said.
The process of being ready for these last few games of the season has been season-long with each game another buildingblock to success for the Vikings.
“Looking at these games, you’re starting to get mentally prepared from the beginning of the season. These are the biggest games,” Peters said “It’s a process leading up to the game, but we have the confidence going into these games. That’s how you have to play, and that’s the mentality you need to have.”
After this week, the Vikings will have their conference tournament next Wednesday.