Checking in with Lacrosse
With Spring Sports in full swing, The Boxer Lacrosse has been at the forefront of competing. “Our culture is really good this year. Our lacrosse skill is not quite where we all want it to be, however, we are laying a really good foundation,” Head Coach Brittany Hartmann shared about this year’s lacrosse season thus far.
Indeed, the team has faced some rough patches this season but has persevered and grown. After a successful season opener against Eastern Oregon University, with a 1-0 start, the Boxers hit a rough stretch, losing six of their last seven games. The team has shown a lot of fight in that tough stretch, but fallen short.
“I’m super excited for the bright future we have ahead of us. We have six more games though, so don’t count us out yet!,” announces Coach Hartmann.
Over the weekend, the Boxers took on the University of Puget Sound at Hanson Stadium. The Boxers found themselves in an early hole trailing 6-0 after the first period, and trailing 8-3 at halftime. During intermission, the defense made adjustments only to allow two goals in the entire second half. That allowed the offense to get back into a groove and had a roaring comeback, but still falling short 10-8 in the final score.
Senior Hyland Cullen-Musegon led the team in goals, scoring two which puts her season total at 19 on the year. Kellyn Claeys, Devyn Davis, Diane Cretes, Sarah Quade, Zannah Suehiro, and Cyan Fellows all scored a goal in the fighting effort over the weekend. Although it was a difficult defeat, the team’s perseverance displayed a strong foundation and culture as emphasized by Coach Hartmann. Despite initially falling behind by a significant margin, their tenacity and determination allowed them to stay in the game and ultimately shut out Puget Sound during the fourth period. Unfortunately, the Boxers fell short this time around.
On Monday April 15, The Boxers welcomed Willamette University to Hanson Stadium for a night match. The last time these two teams met, the Bearcats ran away with the game, blowing out Pacific 20-1 on March 10. This game, however, started back and forth with each team scoring a goal and after the first period, the Bearcats only led 3-2. The second period started to pick up the tempo and the Bearcats put the pressure on jumping out to an 8-3 lead at halftime over the Boxers—and that momentum rolled into the second half, shutting out the Boxers with the final score of 20-3 extending the Boxer’s losing streak to eight straight. Hyland Cullen-Musegon, Caitian Brown, and Devyn Davis each scored a goal in the game. This was a rough one to take after a very close comeback effort on Sunday to losing a game like that.
Next up for Pacific, they travel to face their rival Wildcats in Linfield where the Boxers look to flush those past two games, move forward to the game ahead, and finish the season on a strong note which starts with taking care of business on the road against a good opponent.
With the off-season upcoming soon for the Boxers, Coach Hartmann’s advice for any incoming freshman lacrosse players and returners is, “Keep grinding in the off-season. We finally have the buy-in for our team and the individual accountability to back it up. If they take that fire into the off-season, we will come back better than ever!”
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