Before the men’s lacrosse team even set foot on the turf at Reavis Stadium this year, their goals had been firmly set: win their first five games, beat four conference rivals, and have a winning record.
Head Coach Carl Haas is confident his team can achieve all of their goals this season, sporting nine players that have played at least two seasons in the competitive North Coast Athletic Conference.
“We’ve taken our lumps and that experience has got to start paying off playing these teams,” Haas said. “We were really close in the Kenyon game and we were really close in the Oberlin game. Instead of just being like, ‘boy, we we’re really close,’ we need to take the next step and hopefully beat those guys.”
The DePauw men’s lacrosse team has nearly doubled in size from 21 players to 37 this season, largely due to their 19-person recruiting class. Hailing from California, Texas, Maryland and across the Midwest, a handful of the young players have already shown promise.
This includes freshman attackman Steen Jorgensen, who led New Trier High School to an Illinois State Championship in 2015. Jorgenson will be one of three freshmen that will likely make up the attack unit, in addition to Buck Dorger and Matthew Dauw.
The defense will also welcome new additions first-year Donny Bleifuss and sophomore Jack Gomez. An Indianapolis native, Gomez will suit up for the Tigers for the first time this season after sitting out in 2015 due to a torn hamstring that required surgery to repair.
After moving to attack to last season, junior Nick Woerner and sophomores Ben Sherman and Andrew Wright will be returning to the midfield in 2016. The trio tallied 145 points last season, which the Tigers hope to repeat this season since the loss of standout midfielder sophomore Kyle Roberts over the summer. Roberts, who put up 15 goals and six assists last season, is out for the season with a lingering wrist injury that required surgery.
Despite the loss of Roberts, the midfield will likely be the driving force of the offensive unit this season.
“I think, just based on pure experience, our midfield is much stronger and has more depth,” Woerner said, referencing the young attack unit.
In addition to position changes and new freshmen, Ben Shifflett, of Lees-McCrae College, will be replacing Keith Long as the assistant coach. The change follows Long’s departure for NCAC rival Ohio Wesleyan University during the fall. Instead of taking over the offense, which Long led, Shifflett will switch responsibilities with Haas and manage the defense.
The defense, while adjusting to Shifflett’s coaching style, will also be dealing with the loss of sophomore goalies Kaleb VanArsdale and Zach Taylor, who split time last season, but will not be returning this season. Either junior Connor Patterson or sophomore Joe Musto will replace the duo.
Despite the initial obstacles, Haas praised the defense.
“The defense is really far ahead of the offense and part of that is because I am coaching the offense,” said Haas, who focused on defense for the past three seasons.
Although he has a limited background in coaching offense, Haas has worked closely with his players to develop a new offensive scheme.
“He is allowing us to work a lot with him and give a lot of suggestion and feedback,” Woerner said.
After only four days of practice, the Tigers scrimmaged the University of Indianapolis and the University of the Cumberlands on Saturday. The scrimmages produced mixed results. The team faltered 16-8 against University of Indianapolis, a first-year division II program, and blew past Cumberlands with a final score of 17-6.
Despite the early loss, upperclassmen players were content with the level of play.
“I thought we played pretty well,” Woerner said. “Probably comparable to half way through last season.”
The Tigers kick off their season at home on Feb. 20th against Rhodes College.