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Club lacrosse set for strong finish |
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Tuesday, 01 April 2008 |
by ERIK RHYNE
Sports Reporter
For the Appalachian State University club lacrosse team, Spring Break couldn’t have come at a better time.
Prior to the break, the Mountaineers stood 2-3 overall, while being outscored 71-48.
In its first action since, Appalachian has gone 2-0, winning the scoring battle 24-10 over the stretch.
 Junior defenseman William Wilkerson runs for the ball during Sunday’s game against the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Appalachian won 9-8 in the game’s final minutes. Photo by Holt Menzies
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“That’s
the way we had to schedule the games. We had about two to three weeks
where we didn’t have any games,” club president Robbie Simpson said.
“It was good to get out here to get a win heading into next weekend.”
ASU humbled Southern Virginia University 15-2 Saturday, followed by a
9-8 win over the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Sunday.
At 4-3 overall, defenseman W. Brandon Wilkerson said the Mountaineers
have to win two of their final three games to qualify for post-season
action.
To do that, Appalachian has to defeat Savannah College of Art and
Design, Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte over the next three weeks. Luckily for ASU, the team has the
luxury of staying in the friendly confines of Boone.
“Probably the three biggest games are coming up,” attacker Mark Van
Hoover said. “These two wins are a lot of confidence for us. Being up
here in Boone and having our friends on the sidelines is definitely a
big advantage.”
That’s only half the battle. During play over the weekend, the Mountaineers were called for several penalties during each game.
“We need to cut down on the penalty minutes,” Van Hoover said. “We’re
getting them all over the field. We definitely need to keep our sticks
under control. We’re being aggressive, but we just need to work on
control.”
Appalachian will be able to take a lot from their performances over the
weekend, as they begin preparations for another weekend filled with
competition.
“[The remaining opponents] are all tough teams to face and have good
players,” Simpson said. “If we come together and play our best lacrosse
we should finish strong. As long as we are out here fighting for the
ball and putting strong shots on goal, we should do well.”
Defined as a season of highs-and-lows by both Wilkerson and Van Hoover,
the Mountaineers are adamant about not letting a late season slip-up be
the reason they miss the playoffs.
“We had tough losses to [the University of] South Carolina a couple of
weeks ago and Elon [College] before then,” Van Hoover said. “The Elon
loss was especially tough considering we beat them at home last fall.
To go down there and have them pretty much walk all over us like we are
a lower level team was disappointing.”
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