Avery Boulware, Campus Carrier Sports Editor
After a long and strenuous pre-season, Berry men’s lacrosse is prepared for what could be one of their most challenging seasons to date.
The team lost a third of their players when the class of 2015 graduated. Now, three-fourths of the team consists of freshman and sophomore players.
“Having such a young team this year has its pros and cons,” junior midfielder James Kurila said. “With so many new freshmen comes so much new talent, but it’s difficult to just pick up where we left off last year. The dynamic of the team is completely different. Right now everyone is finding their new role on the team and figuring out where they fit best.”
Hoping to solidify the new team dynamic as quickly as possible, head coach Curtis Gilbert is asking more of his players than ever before. Both fall and winter pre-season periods have been a lot of work. Gilbert has made sure the schedule includes a variety of scrimmages before the season begins, making every effort to get the young team in the best shape possible.
“There’s going to be some growing pains that come with [a young team], just adjusting to college-level lacrosse and the pace of play,” Gilbert said. The fall training season consisted of mostly learning the fundamentals of the game and setting good foundations.
Gilbert is excited, however, to see the young team flourish.
“This freshman class is the most talented class we’ve ever had here,” he said. “The future is definitely getting brighter with each incoming recruiting class.”
The four remaining seniors — attacker Jake Emche, defender Garrett Miller, goalie Nick Voso, and midfielder Christian Akers — will also be asked to step up to positions of leadership.
The Vikings scrimmaged Shorter University on Saturday. The score was not officially recorded, but Shorter came out on top.
“The Shorter game was a tough loss, but the game exposed our weaknesses,” senior Christian Akers said.
Senior Nick Voso is confident that the team’s synergy will fall into place as the season progresses.
“There’s definitely some stuff we need to work on,” Voso said. “But as we get more experience, we’ll get more and more confident, and then we’ll be able to do things that we know how to do.”
The lacrosse schedule will be one of the most challenging that the team has ever seen. Gilbert has organized more non-conference games than a normal season usually has, including four teams ranked among the top 25 in the nation.
“We’re trying to get as many quality opponents on the schedule this year as possible,” Gilbert said. “It’d be nice if we won every single one, but it doesn’t ultimately matter in the bigger picture. You have to win conference to go on to the tournament, so whatever I can do to set us up to be successful in the conference, that’s what I’m going to do.”