Seton Hill University (SHU) men’s lacrosse team is well into its second season. Despite an opening record of 0-4, the team and Head Coach Brian Novotny remain positive about their season.
Sophomore March Christenson said, �The rest of the season should see us being very competitive and I think we can probably win many of the games in the second half of our season.�
There are a few reasons Novotny feels that the first part of the season saw no wins. For one, SHU’s roster consists of 20 men, compared to most teams having between 35 and 40.
By Caroline Jones,
Staff Writer
Seton Hill University (SHU) men’s lacrosse team is well into its second season. Despite an opening record of 0-4, the team and Head Coach Brian Novotny remain positive about their season.
Sophomore March Christenson said, �The rest of the season should see us being very competitive and I think we can probably win many of the games in the second half of our season.�
There are a few reasons Novotny feels that the first part of the season saw no wins. For one, SHU’s roster consists of 20 men, compared to most teams having between 35 and 40.
Freshman Brad Kelly said, �The only weakness I�ve noticed (that our team has) is that we don’thave many people, so when we play bigger teams we eventually get too winded and have to slow down the pace.�
Not only is the team low in numbers, they are low in their years in experience. Because this is only the second season lacrosse has been part of SHU’s athletic scene, most of the players are freshman or sophomores.
Coach Novotny said, �We are very young and inexperienced, we only have two upperclassmen on the team and there is something to be said about being older, more mature and more experienced.�
He added, �We are trying to raise the skill level of the players and also raise the �Lacrosse IQ� of the guys on the team. We are asking a lot of the guys to do things that they have never been asked to do before.�
Considering the disadvantages SHU may have, they have been gaining experience. The first three teams SHU faced have very well respected programs.
As Coach Novotny said of these teams, �Robert Morris is a Division I program, Mercyhurst is ranked number five in Division II and is consistently ranked there, and Wooster is also a very good Division III program that is consistently in the top 25 in the nation.�
With all of the experience SHU is facing early on, the season could potentially take a full 180. �We have many strengths, but sometimes we hesitate to use them,� said Kelly.
Novotny seems to have no doubts that many wins are in sight. �We will gain some valuable experience over the rest of the season. If we continue to work hard and improve, we will put ourselves in a position that we may be able to get our record to .500 for the remaining games,� he said.
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