The beginning of the spring semester brings spring sports, and Albion’s men’s lacrosse team has been hard at work preparing for their upcoming season.
Last year, the team finished 15-4, won their third consecutive MIAA Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Since 2015, the team has gone 20-0 in conference play.
Despite losing three key seniors from last season, Head Coach Jake DeCola is hopeful about the team’s depth.
“This year is the first time in a long time that we have brought back almost the entire team from the prior season,” said Coach DeCola. “We’re returning with a lot of team chemistry.”
Coach DeCola believes the returners’ experience will be helpful in having another successful team. With some of the younger players getting a year or two under their belt, DeCola sees a more dynamic team with increased depth this season.
Despite last season’s successes, DeCola doesn’t want his team to think of the past.
“Expectations are results based rather than process-based, and lead to disappointment,” said DeCola. “Instead, we focus on embracing challenges.”
One of the challenges the team has already faced is losing their leading goal scorer and first-team All-MIAA attackman, Drew Harm. Harm is out for the year due to unexpected brain surgery. Harm led the MIAA with 25 goals last season.
“A team built on expectations would likely struggle to handle this. We focus on responses, and so far Drew is responding really well to his surgery and his recovery,” says DeCola. “The fellas are responding well to his situation, and if anything, it has stimulated our growth rather than dampen[ed] it.”
In the MIAA preseason poll, Albion received six out of seven first-place votes (the coaches, who create the poll, cannot vote for their own programs). Alma and Hope tied for second and each got one first-place vote apiece.
Coach DeCola says the team has been working on having a mindset of winning each day in class, socially and on the field.
Photo courtesy of Albion Athletics.
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