The men’s lacrosse season concluded on Saturday, April 29 with a home game against conference rivals North Central. Placing sixth out of 10 in conference, this small team had high spirits in trying times, as they were only practicing with 14 players. 

There are 24 boys on the team, including goalies. Out of those 24, 10 were injured or ineligible to play. In lacrosse, a team of nine is required to take the field. This left the team with only five players as substitutes.

“Going into it, we were just excited for a big last game at home,” senior Matteo Uccelli said. “And it was especially special to me because that was my last game.” 

However, they never gave up hope in each other. Even as they lost 15-9, they exited the field with their heads up high, already looking forward to next season. 

“I think we just really got to get some new faces in here,” First-Year Nicholas Morgan said. “Start recruiting some guys here. I know going forward and some games are pretty low on numbers compared to other teams, so it’d be nice to get some more faces on here.” 

Next season, there will be four new recruits that will be added to the roster for the lacrosse team. This year, the team is graduating seven seniors. 

However, it seems as though these new recruits will be welcomed in with open arms to a close, tight-knit community of guys. 

“I think, obviously, coming in as a freshman here, you are a little shy, a little anxious, just because you do not know what to expect. To the new group of guys coming into college, I think I’ve seen just a lot of improvement as far as really just feeling welcomed with the community and feeling like part of it,” Morgan said. 

Even as the games got rough, scattered with wins and losses, they found time to bond as a team and use this bond to make their game stronger. 

“Considering this year we were very small and light on numbers as a team, we were really, really close. I mean, we still, as the season’s over, still hang out as a group,” Uccelli said. “We do a lot of stuff as a team outside of lacrosse and practice and stuff, like on the weekends and stuff like that. But we’re really, really close as a group, and everyone really likes each other, and we seem to get along really well on and off the field.”

The men’s lacrosse team got the opportunity to travel to Nashville, Tennessee, where they were able to explore the city. The team rode scooters around the town, visited the home arena of the Nashville Predators, Tennessee’s Hockey team and even visited Vanderbilt University. The men’s lacrosse team was able to practice in front of the Parthenon and compete at Sewanee University of the South. There, the players were able to grow closer as a team, on and off the field.