Courtney Silva – Staff Writer –
Turf grass stains on the uniforms, black eye makeup marked up on the faces, sweat running in the eyes, and the pain and exhaustion from fighting is what it all came down to in the last few minutes of the men’s lacrosse game on Southern Connecticut State University’s Jess Dow Field Wednesday night.
William Wezenter, the men’s lacrosse assistant coach, said after the Wednesday night game, that first and foremost the team wanted to thank all of the fans for coming out that night in what was the biggest game in team history as far as pushing for the legitimacy of the program, with the game under the lights.
“I hope you all had fun Wednesday night and things are looking great as we move forward as far as getting more games and practices on the turf to support our owls,” Wezenter said. “Secondly, we want to thank Eric Lacharity, the assistant director of SCSU’s student life, who focuses solely on club sports on Southern’s campus, and the other guys who helped us out immensely with running the table, clock, horn, and announcing for the game. Those things make a huge difference in the energy of our program and it is clear to us that your support helped us be competitive that night.”
According to the Southern Club Sports website, this competitive season marks the fifth year of competition for the owls and its third year competing in as a member of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association by the use through the Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League.
According to the MCLA’s and PCLL’s websites, it is a national organization of non-NCAA, college lacrosse programs.
Since the men’s lacrosse team is categorized as a club sport on Southern’s campus, the coaches especially are in it purely for enjoyment and what motivates Wezenter to act as an assistant coach for the team is the fact that he rebuilt the program from scratch, he said.
“I feel as though this team is a reflection of me; therefore I am quite fond of it and try to do whatever I can to see it succeed,” Wezenter said. “I played here, I reformed the team, and now I get to give back to the team—it’s all quite satisfying for me.”
Tyler McNamera, a junior sports management major at SCSU, is a captain for the men’s lacrosse team this season and was on the team during its first MCLA season.
He plays defense for the owls and he said, unfortunately, the team had some bad injuries and were not able to win the game for the fans Wednesday night, but know that the team will finish this season strong with the two remaining games the team has against the United States Coast Guard Academy and Bridgewater State College.
“Thank you to everyone, the teams, and organizations like the rugby team, women’s lacrosse, and several fraternities, who made a showing at Wednesday night’s game and to everyone involved in making it happen,” McNamera said. “And for the record, we supported the songs and chanting you guys made all night. We apologize though that the referee’s had to rain on that parade.”
McNamera said that the team will come into the next season ready to give the fans a team worth supporting.
The team has already made the fall ball practice schedule and is in the process of scheduling several scrimmages, he said.
The captains and the executive board have also been in contact with several possible players for next season from various high schools in Connecticut, he said.
In season’s past the men’s lacrosse team has been unsuccessful in getting playing time on the varsity turf field; however, this season they were granted approval by the varsity athletic offices to be looked at in a better light.
Phil Kennedy, a junior history major at SCSU, is the secretary for the men’s lacrosse team this season.
He plays midfielder for the Owls and he said, that getting the varsity turf field for the game all started three months ago after a practice with Wezenter and Pat Cooney, the President of the men’s lacrosse team.
“Coach Wezenter, Cooney, and I discussed the possibility of having a game on Jess Dow Field,” Kennedy said. “Coach Wezenter had already drafted a letter to be sent to the athletic offices, for the use of several games on the field; however we wanted Lacharity’s input on the idea, so we sent the letter to him first. Lacharity then sent the letter to athletics, but we didn’t hear anything from them for several weeks.”
Kennedy followed up with the actions of the athletic office’s decision on the use of Jess Dow Field.
“We kept in contact with Lacharity who had been in and out of several meetings with the athletic department,” he said. “About a month and a half prior to the game, the team found out that we were approved for usage of the varsity turf field for our game against the University of New Haven on Wednesday night.”
Getting approved for a game to be held on the varsity turf field was a problem.
However, members of the team found a way out, a way that worked, a way out that made it possible for a club sports team to make a name for themselves at Southern Connecticut State University, said Kennedy.
