The men’s lacrosse team has developed into a contender in the NCAC, but looks to take the next step with a young team and reach the NCAA tournament in 2010.
After a phenomenal 2008 season in which a great senior class led the Scots to an 11-3 record, a less experienced team entered a rebuilding stage of sorts in 2009 where the program once again just missed the playoffs, finishing 7-6.
A great start to the 2009 season had the Scots hoping to reach their goal of an NCAA playoff berth, but some tough losses in the last two weeks of the season kept the team outside looking in once again.
This year brings new optimism. Head coach Jason Tarnow’s Scots are ready to improve upon last season’s early success, and develop into a team with playoff expectations for years to come. Last season’s young squad should benefit from a year’s more experience in starting roles for the Scots.
It won’t be an easy road for Wooster, which saw many senior four-year contributors graduate including their top-scorer, Mark Weschler ’09 (29 goals, 12 assists, 41 points overall). This season features a younger team with just five seniors on the roster.
Tarnow believes his team will be able to improve throughout the season and compete for a conference championship. “We were close to making the playoffs last year, but just fell short. We have a young team, and this isn’t just coach talk, I believe we can develop and improve with every day of practice and every game.”
With a balanced offense led by Pat Coyne ’10 and Alex Mies ’10, the Scots remain optimistic about improving from last season’s disappointment. Dan MacVarish ’10 and Casey McGann ’12 will look to become scoring threats at attack similar to Weschler.
Matt Pullera ’11 will be key in the offensive success in the midfield and at the face off spot. Amongst the midfielders Pullera will be assested defensively by Graham Zimmerman ’11 who will be heavily relied on in clearing the defensive end and creating offense.
A defensive unit anchored by goalie Corey McGann ’12 and Ryan Story ’10 will look to finish strong and earn a bid to the NCAA Div. III Tournament this May.
“The defense is really experienced this year with all the starters coming back. Even with the threats on offense, I think we will lean on the defense more than last season,” Story said.
This season comes with the excitement of the summer renovations of John P. Papp stadium, where lights and Sprinturf were installed. “It’s always exciting to play at home in the stadium,” Tarnow said, “and now it’ll be even more exciting as this year we will play some of the first night games in our program’s history.” The two night games this season will be played against Denison University on March 27 and the College of Mount St. Joseph on March 31.
The Fighting Scots were set to open their season last Friday against Mount Saint Joseph, but due to snow, the game was postponed until March 31. The team is confident that the field will be in playable condition by this coming Monday, as the Scots have moved the game against Albion College to March. 1 at 1 p.m.
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