Blast from the Past: “Lacrosse Team Improves”

Lawrence’s sporting history involves more than just the teams we all know and love today. Other sports have come and gone in Lawrence’s long history. At one point, the Vikings fielded a lacrosse team. Though not terribly dominant, at least in the 1986 season, the team was loved by campus. It is funny to think that the sports Lawrence hosts today might some day become a distant memory.

Published 5/9/1986
Author Unknown

Despite the disappointing record of 3-4, the lacrosse team improved over last year’s record of 0-7. Two of the wins were against Ripon and the third was against UW-Lacrosse. The last win against Ripon was quite close. It was tied 3-3 with only several minutes left in the game. In the final minutes of the game, K.C. Sloan put away the game’s winning roal. That was K.C.’s second goal of the game. Other goals were scored by Jake Nielle and Bob Countryman. There were many other close games. The team went into triple overtime against Beloit only to lose by a score of 8-7.

The team was led by coaches/captains John Stapleton and Dan Macke. They did a fine job organizing the team and scheduling the games. They deserve a lot of credit for the improved season. This year’s team had a lot of experienced players as well as a number of first year players. In many of the games the first-year players got some substantial playing time. They should be ready to play next year. The experienced players really carried the season. Most of them had been playing together for several years. One of the major difficulties for next year will be the loss of so many starters. Out of the ten starters only one will be returning. This will cause a lot of pressure on the newer players to perform.

The fans seem to really enjoy themselves while watching the home games. One fan said, “Lawrence Lacrosse is just like Johns Hopkins.” Next year there might be more home games. The team thanks the fans that come out and hopes more will come out next year.

The coaches/captains for next year are going to be Adam Spear and Bob Countryman. The team hopes that more people will come out and play next year to make up for the large number of players leaving. If anyone is interested in playing next year, just ask a lacrosse player to throw the ball around with you someday. You will probably enjoy it.