The lacrosse club beat UT-Arlington 14-5 last Sunday, giving theteam a 2-1 record after beating Texas State and falling to Texas inlate January.
Lacrosse combines the speed of hockey and the hitting offootball.
“It’s the fastest game on two feet,” headcoach Sean Gilligan said.
SMU has had a club lacrosse team for more than 25 years.However, it was not until last year, when founding coach DonNewburry added youth to an experienced staff, that the team startedto make a name for itself on campus.
“Since [Gilligan arrived,] the player commitment hasimproved. Where I used to have 10 guys on the field, I now have atleast 20 showing up to practices. Plus, they are more experiencedplayers,” Newburry said.
Over the past two years, SMU lacrosse has been improving itsgame and climbing to new heights.
The team moved up to Division A last season and finished 7-3,which was an improvement from previous years.
“They compete and hang with some of the best teams in thenation, which means they have become one of the top teams in thenation,” Tim Moore, the associate director of RecreationalSports, said.
Joining Gilligan and Newburry on the coaching staff is SMUgraduate and former club lacrosse player Bill Rowe.
Captains Rob Lev and Chip Hiemenz lead the team, composed of twoseniors, six juniors, nine sophomores and 14 first-years.
“We are a young team with leaders from differentfraternities coming together as both friends and teammates,”Gilligan said.
“They are able to build a very good team.”
The team is looking to wins like that on Sunday to bringeveryone together and help prepare them for upcoming games.
“We have a difficult week ahead of us,” Gilligansaid.
Starting Saturday, the Mustangs have a total of five games ineight days, three of which are against teams ranked among the top25 in the nation.
The team has away games against Vanderbilt and No. 7-rankedFlorida, followed by a home game versus Stanford.
“It may be fair to say we have the toughest schedule inTexas,” Gilligan said.
The team opens up its parent’s weekend with a game againstTexas Tech at 1 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a noon game on Sundayagainst North Texas.
The schedule is posted on the club’s Web site atpeople.smu.edu/lacrosse.
The team hopes for a strong finish this year.
Gilligan believes confidence and execution will lead to anothergreat finish.
“Our team is ready to break out at any moment, but rightnow we are still trying to get a feel for one another,” teampresident Tommy Jones said.
“Who knows? Tech could be the game when it all comestogether.”
