We finished out the practice week, pretty well, last week. With so many new faces (seven freshman), and almost all of our returners, seeking to take on different roles, this season, the focus was on team play and big picture concepts. I was able to get some golf in, last week, on Wednesday (a day off) and Friday (after practice). I love golfing in the fall, despite the lack of improvement in my game!

Heading into Sunday’s day of competition at the University of New Haven, it felt a bit like preparing for a regular season game – even though it is only fall ball and we would be playing three mini games (40 minutes each). Sunday morning, we gathered at Molloy for breakfast, before loading into the Vans, for the Drive up to New Haven.

The Drive to New Haven could not have gone smoother. There were no traffic jams and we made it there in about an hour and a half! It was a beautiful autumn day for lacrosse, and after an abbreviated pre-game warm up, the Lady Lions took the field against the host, New Haven Chargers. As the game began, I don’t think any of the coaches knew what to expect from our inexperienced group.

The results were mixed. Perhaps predictably, we appeared nervous and tentative, especially early on. We struggled to get into the flow of things and were unable to execute offensively and defensively. Slowly, we seemed to acclimate to the pace and intensity of play. At the end of the first game, we looked frustrated and a bit “shell shocked”.

During the 40 minute break before our next game, we tried to re-group and straighten out, some of our problems. Our second opponent was Southern New Hampshire University. While our performance was definitely an improvement from the first game, we still made more than our share of mistakes. But, we seemed less confused and were certainly more competitive.

The final game of the day, for us, was Pace University. This turned out to be our best game of the day. While it was not a masterpiece, by any stretch of the imagination, for us, it was significantly better than how we began the day. We appeared less shaky, if not quite “confident”. We made fewer mistakes, all of the field. Most importantly, we competed better.

We had our lunch and mingled briefly with the many parents, who made the trip (and put on another fine “tailgate party”), before we piled back into the Vans for the grueling ride home! The three hour return drive, allowed for plenty of contemplation. Despite our obvious difficulties, there were a number of positive takeaways. We got better during the course of each game and improved game after game. With about one third of our players, playing in their first ever, College Lacrosse competition, there were bound to be some “growing pains”. Many of our failings, can be fixed with hard work. “Failure is part of success”. Hopefully, we will learn from our mistakes, a become a better team in the process.

We will get another chance to measure our progress, this Saturday at Dominican University, where we will have two more contests.

GO LIONS!