Every season is like a story. They have high points and they have low points, they make you smile and they make you upset. Cortland’s Club Lacrosses season is no different. With impressive stories of winning awards and championships, to wholesome moments with your brothers and a little bit of fun mixed in, the club lacrosse team has a long list of tales that must be shared.
Back to back titles
The Red Dragons put together a very successful season. Capturing back to back Empire East Conference titles for the first time in school history. Despite a final record of 5 wins and 6 losses the season was better than what their record reflected.
Cortland swept the Empire East conference winning all 4 conference games against some tough competition. This included wins over Syracuse 10-6, Albany 9-4, Cornell 9-4 and Union 10-9 in overtime to secure the conference title.
After starting out the year 2-0 the Dragons would travel to Maryland for a weekend of non-conference games where they would face #2 Ohio State, #3 Maryland and a Vermont team who has been in and out of the top 20 all season long. These are some of the best teams in the nation and proved that to the Red Dragons as they dropped all three games.
The following weekend would be the most important weekend of the season. Cortland was set to host the biggest weekend of the year in terms of conference play. This matchup would send Cornell’s and Union’s club lacrosse team down to the 13045 for a weekend slate of games. All three of these conference foes entered the games undefeated in conference play. This meant the winners of these games would most likely walk away with the empire east title.
After taking the first game rather easily by a score of 9-4 against Cornell the Red Dragons had a lot of momentum going into the game against Union. Heading into the fourth quarter Cortland was up by 4 but quickly watched their lead evaporate as Union could not miss. The hard fought battle went all the way to overtime until Joe Lamson slotted one behind the goalie stick to seal the game for Cortland. This did not only secure them the victory but it meant that the empire east conference title would be theirs for the second year in a row.
This was significant for the club lacrosse program as it was the first time they won the conference title in back to back years.
“One of my best memories with the team was claiming the Empire East Division 1 championship two years in a row” said Dylan Moran
Moran, who is a graduating senior, will remember this moment for the rest of his life. Which is exactly what club sports is all about. Giving players one more shot to play the sport they love and in Cortland’s case bring home a title or two.
The Hot Seat
Cortland Club Lacrosse always live streams their games through their instagram page. This is common from many club sports teams so their fans who aren’t at the games can still watch their friends play. Two members of the lacrosse club took this idea and ran with it as they began calling their live streams “The Hot Seat”. TJ Pilewski and Joseph Broderick the creators of “The Hot Seat” have brought life and personality to the teams live feed of their games.
The duo of Pilewski and Broderick on the mic has brought a level of entertainment to the live streams that otherwise would not be there. Interviewing team members before, during and after the games. This livestream helps encapsulate the culture behind club lacrosse as it is just a bunch of guys having fun while playing the sport they love.
“During our game against Albany Joey Brods and I were talking on the sideline and pretending to commentate the game. It ended up being a lot of fun so we told ourselves we’d actually stream and commentate the next home game we had,” said Pilewski. “The first thing we did after that game was buy mics and started to plan how we were going to execute. The rest is history.”
They brainstormed and began coming up with ideas for awards like the MVP, and the 11th man of the game where they would interview the winner in the post game. This began to grow in popularity with the team as everyone wanted to be featured on The Hot Seat. It got the entire team involved in the game from the players on the field to those on the sideline.
The best moment from The Hot Seat would come from Matt Thrasher. In a crucial game vs Union college Thrasher would put one top corner to extend their lead late. Immediately after scoring Thrasher runs over to the camera and celebrates with Pilewski and Broderick before giving an analysis of what just happened.
“I shot two shots into the top corner and I got two goals,” said Thrasher. “I’ve got the goalies number,” he continued.
Truly an electric moment on the hot seat.
Pilewski also gave credit to “The Cortland club lacrosse MJ and Scottie Pippen aka Peter Hespe and Nick Defilice”, saying “You’re in for a good time any time these two touch the mic.”
The Club Lacrosse Hot Seat will continue next season with the mic in Pilewski’s hand. Unfortunately Broderick will be graduating so his time on The Hot Seat is over but don’t be too sad.
As Pilewski says “The show must go on. You gotta give the people what they want”
Brotherly Love
The club lacrosse team has been through a lot together. Some ups, some downs and everything in between has allowed the team to build a strong bond over the years and some even consider each other brothers.
Normally when playing you are fighting for your brothers on your sideline but for graduate student Dean Chapman he was fighting against his brother on the opposing side line.
Dean’s brother Cole is a freshman at Cornell university and is in his first year on the club lacrosse team. When Cornell traveled to Cortland on a weekend in the middle of April it provided the set of brothers a unique opportunity to face off against each other.
“With Cole being 4 years younger than me, we never got to play against each other,” said Dean Chapman. He continued “All I could think about was how awesome of a feeling it was being able to play with/ against my younger brother. It will be a memory I’ll hold onto forever.”
During the fourth quarter of the game Dean and Cole were sent into the face off circle for their teams. This resulted in a ground ball that was picked up by a Cornell player. Dean, a defensive midfielder, had to back up and play defense. He was originally guarding someone else but had to make the switch to go one on one against his brother Cole who plays midfield. As the brothers squared up against each other both sidelines and the entire crowd were cheering their side of the Chapman family on.
“It was as if we parted the Red Sea and it was just Cole and I, one on one. In my mind all I could think of was if he gets past me I’ll never hear the end of it.” said Dean.
Dean played well on defense to prevent Cole from getting into the crease and keep his little brother from earning any bragging rights. Although they are both competitors Dean doesn’t see it as a rivalry.
“I felt as though there was no rivalry, it was just two brothers getting to play a sport they love together for one last ride,” said Dean.
This would mark the first time the brothers went against each other outside of the backyard which gave the Chapman parents a very unique experience. Not wanting to take sides in the bout their mother wore a piece of Cornell gear and a piece of Cortland gear to show her support for both sides.
“They truly were just there to enjoy seeing their sons play lacrosse with each other,” said Dean.
He agreed with his parents saying “I had the biggest smile on my face, I felt as if it was a full circle moment.”
Cascio Wins Officer of The Year
The Cortland Club lacrosse team is only able to play these seasons because of the hard work that gets put in behind the scenes. The group of officers consists of President Christopher Cascio, VP Gunnar Johnson, Secretary Dean Chapman and Treasurer Andrew Trezza all put in much of their own time in order to conduct a successful lacrosse season.
Cascio the president was recognized for his hard work by the recreational sport club office who presented him with the Officer of The Year award.
This annual award is presented to a club sports president who keeps in contact with the club administration and the officers under them, someone who is organized, responsible, and consistent all the while adhering to club policies, taking ownership of the clubs actions and promoting the success of their club.
Chris has been a poster-boy for all of these qualifications as he spends a lot of his free time working on the club. Whether he is creating graphics for their instagram, calling other schools trying to schedule games or setting up community service events to secure funding for next year.
“It definitely feels good to know that not only the team knows how much effort and hard work goes into planning but the club office and rec sports have also noticed.” said Cascio.
It truly is a lot of work as Cascio schedules games, practices, runs the instagram page and is in charge of the team in its entirety.
“To run a club as big as the club lacrosse team two things I’ve always thought were important is communication and transparency to the team. These two tools I used so that I answered as many questions as I could, before someone asks one.”
Cascio who is in his fourth year on the team and graduating this spring has learned alot from the people before him and has continued to learn from his efforts during the year. He has set a good foundation by producing winning seasons and two straight empire east titles. As for next year’s president and officers he believes they can continue to build up the Club lacrosse program.
Cascio reinforces these ideas saying “I’d love to see the team win the Empire East for the 3rd straight season. I know Gunnar is in a good position, and has a great group of officers to continue the success that I’ve seen as VP and President.”
As the semester and season comes to an end for the Club Lacrosse team another chapter in their book has come to an end. We will have to wait and see for new stories to arise when the season returns in the fall. Until then it is important to not be sad when looking at these good memories because they are over but be happy because they have happened.