Sports

Lacrosse : SFU making statement to schools in PNCLL

By Matt Lee

For those of you who saw a Vancouver Ravens game or know what lacrosse is all about, you’d know that it’s quite possibly the most physically-demanding sport you can play.

Forget the fact that you wear minimal protection; try to comprehend the idea of running through two, three, or four players trying to pry the ball off your stick, hacking and slashing away at you.

Put into account that your physical conditioning has to be extremely good and you’ve pretty much got the idea of how rough and tough lacrosse can be.

In a sport which doesn’t get enough attention among SFU students, the men’s lacrosse team finished last year’s regular season with a record of 9-2 and the team appears poised to continue their trend of putting together winning regular seasons.

SFU competes in the Pacific Northwest College Lacrosse League (PNCLL), and that’s unique since they are the only Canadian-based University with the opportunity to compete in a U.S. lacrosse league.

And as the sole members of the 275-team Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association, there’s a sense of national pride among the team to bring a championship north of the border. Coaches Brent Hoskins and Jeff Cathrea bring the valuable philosophy of succeeding both on the field and in the classroom.

The two are in their fourth season of coaching the squad and have been with SFU lacrosse for almost the entirety of its program. In addition, the co-coaches have been able to draw recruits from several different regions of Canada, such as B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. SFU is no stranger to success when it comes to competing in lacrosse. Since the Clan’s inception in 1996, they have won six PNCLL conference championships and competed at the MDIA National Championships during seven of its last eight seasons.

The Clan kicked off their season with a 12-11 win over Westminster College on February 22 and had a record of 3-1 before their three weekend games against Lindenwood University, Texas A&M, and Illinois.

The team is currently seeded third in Division I and at 20th in the MCLA rankings, their highest in recent memory. In the last poll, SFU was ranked 24th.

Ben Towner, a sophomore student working towards a Business major, is leading the team. In the four games he has played for SFU, Towner has exploded for 22 goals and two assists, which had him with the second highest point total in the division.

There is also midfielder Russell Thomas, who had 11 goals and three assists entering the weekend’s action. With seven games remaining in the schedule, the Clan lacrosse team is entering a crucial stage of their season as they jockey for position with its division.

The Clan has dates with Sonoma State and Oregon, teams that are ranked 10th and 6th, respectively.

Once their regular season concludes, the team aims to compete in the PNCLL Final Four tournament held at the University of Montana in early May, and perhaps even the MCLA National Championships in Dallas.

For those of you who would like to see the lacrosse team in action, there are three upcoming home games for the Clan, all of which take place on Terry Fox Field.

On April 5 and 6, the Clan will be taking on Oregon and Oregon State at 1:00 p.m. and 11:00 a.m., respectively. These are two teams who are sure to give the boys a tough match. Their final home date is an April 26 game against Gonzaga at 1:00 p.m.