Photos: Connor McCourtney
The hard hits, fast feet and flying sticks of the Drake lacrosse club stormed the field for a doubleheader this past Saturday against the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and St. Mary’s of Winona, Minn. On the last day of March the sun finally began to do away with winter, and the warmth made a great sporting atmosphere.
The lacrosse club is a part of the Great Lakes Lacrosse League, which includes 32 teams spanning schools across the upper Midwest. Three teams convene at a school each weekend and all three play one another in a doubleheader type format.
In the first game, both Drake and UW-La Crosse came out with a lot of energy in hopes to oust each other. It just wasn’t meant to be Drake’s game. The experienced Eagles overmatched the Bulldogs as they were beaten 11-2. Freshman attacker Jackson Dodge scored one of the Bulldogs’ two goals and noted that UW-La Crosse has a lot of playing experience on its side.
“I felt like they were a great team. They were really impressive,” Dodge said. “They have been playing together for a long time. They have been in the league the longest.”
After that game, UW-La Crosse played against St. Mary’s. Once the second match was finished, Drake played St. Mary’s to conclude the afternoon.
Drake came out fast and hard against the Blue Jays. They had an offensive barrage that included five goals in the first half. That amounted to a 5-1 lead, but a more relaxed Bulldog team came out in the second half.
“Coming out of halftime when we had the lead, we just can’t let up,” sophomore midfielder Pat Bradley said.
The Blue Jays took advantage of Drake’s laid-back play and slowly chipped away at the lead. The Bulldogs scored two more goals in the second half, but St. Mary’s countered by adding seven second-half goals to earn the win, 8-7.
Next weekend the Bulldogs will travel to Winona, Minn., for a doubleheader hosted by the Winona State lacrosse club. They will play Winona State and St. Norbert College. Bradley feels their toughest competition is behind them and that they are staying positive about the upcoming games.
“We are hoping to win most of the rest of our games,” Bradley said. “We’ve already played most of the stronger teams in the league, so we can use our experience against the rest of the teams in the league.”
