Lacrosse’s Rough Start
The Viking’s overall record is 2-3 and is not the strong opener followers had hoped for.
The team opened up their season away against Broome on Mar. 9 where they would fall 7-11.
Following the opener, Vikings played Genesee on Mar. 14 on the RPI field. This second game was supposed to be played home but due to the field’s condition the Vikings were moved to RPI for the game.
Genesee dominated the Vikings, shutting them out 15-0. Genesee is ranked number three nationally on the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA).
After the two losses, the Vikings played Jefferson away and won 16-12, as well as a win against TC3 14-6 on April 3.
Last Saturday, the Vikings played an important game to their season. Winning the game would place them higher in the national ranking while losing would make their goal of one step further away.
The team did not play their best and walked away from the Finger Lakes with an 18-8 loss.
Since the beginning of the season, the Vikings have lost one of their captains, Mark Leslie, whose season was cut short by a concussion. Losing Leslie, and working with a lot of new freshmen, has made the season more challenging for the Vikings.
Captain Joe Moore said, “[The freshmen are] getting more acclimated to college play as the season goes on.”
Conference play begins next week on Wednesday against Herkimer and the Vikings are focusing on doing well in conference play.
SUNY Delhi is ranked number eight nationally by NJCAA. Herkimer is ranked ahead of the Vikings, and while they are the normal rivals, they are hoping to defeat both Herkimer and Delhi this year.
Moore said, “The team is coming together, the offense is meshing good, and really is just coming together.”
The Vikings goals are still as they were at the beginning of the season and with hard work they believe they can still reach them. The Vikings look to win the Conference and then move forward.
The freshmen are slowly becoming more familiar and hope to be ready to take on the challenges that come with the conference play in the next few weeks.