Leigh Hadaway, Campus Carrier Reporter
As four senior lacrosse players graduate, 15 freshmen are preparing to help lead the team during the 2016-2017 season.
This past season marks the sixth year for men’s lacrosse at Berry and the third graduating class. Last year, a third of the team left when 10 players graduated, most of whom were starters. Head coach Curtis Gilbert commented on the shift between last season and this season.
“We lost a large nucleus of guys that were winning games for us and got us to a championship game,” Gilbert said. “We have 14 guys on the team that are first year guys. Essentially all the spaces voided by a graduated senior are now filled by a freshman. A lot of our success is dependent on how those guys can play and grow up quickly.”
Christian Akers, Nick Voso, Jake Emche and Garrett Miller are the four seniors on the team. Gilbert said that although there are only four seniors, they provide good leadership to the team, which is two-thirds underclassmen.
Akers is a three-time All-Conference player, and Voso, Emche and Miller are contenders for this year’s award.
Gilbert said the seniors are a major part of the team’s success, but the real success story from the senior class is Garrett Miller.
Gilbert said Miller was a marginal player freshman and sophomore year and overshadowed his junior year, but emerged this season after spring break. Since the lacrosse tournaments over spring break Miller has started in every conference game. Gilbert said he is arguably one of the best defensive players.
“It is really kind of the reason why you coach,” Gilbert said. “You really live for these kind of stories. It’s one of those feel-good stories that you can share with the young guys and the guys that don’t play a lot to keep working hard.”
Miller has not only stepped up as a player, but as a leader as well. He said he viewed last year’s senior class as the foundation for Berry lacrosse.
“I really took a lot of values from them,” Miller said. “Now I’m trying to instill values from them to the freshman class. It’s not like saying anything directly to them. It’s more what you do on and off the field.”
Freshman attack Chris Berchock said that having a large freshman class has forced the freshmen to grow up quickly. Midfielder and fellow freshman Hudson Harris said they immediately felt crucial to the team’s success.
“With having 15 freshmen, they were looking at us as contributors right away,” Harris said. “They needed us, so that forced us to have to step up.”
Berchock and Harris said that while everyone has stepped up as leaders on the team, freshmen do not just come in and make a difference.
“We need to be led and put in our place,” Berchock said.
Miller said the seniors set high expectations for the freshman class. Although the season started with a few losses, Miller said that the team learned a lot through those losses.
“We immediately lost a few games and had to take major steps backwards to become a solid team before we became a great team, and I think we are a great team now,” Miller said. “I think it was because the freshmen grew up, and we learned how to lose.”
Gilbert said there is a large recruiting class coming in next year. They are coming to a team full of strong leaders and high expectations.