The Cortland men’s lacrosse team didn’t finish the season the way that they had always hoped, losing by a goal in the SUNYAC semifinals. Every year, the goal of their team is to win a national championship and winning their conference SUNYAC championship was just another step in the process. Or so they thought. Their last season ended by losing to Geneseo in the conference championship 13-7. Since that point, the team has been seeking revenge this season and hope to take back the title to Cortland.
How did it feel to lose to Geneseo last season in the playoffs?
“Losing to your conference rival is always one of the worst feelings,” said John Bowen. “It makes it even a worse feeling when its “win or go home”, and your rivals get to keep competing, while your season is over.”
“That was the first time that I had lost a conference game which came in my third season at Cortland,” said Colton Smith. “It kind of hits you hard when you’re so used to winning and you finally take that loss.”
What did the team learn/ what came out of the loss?
“I strongly believe that you learn a lot more from losing than you do from winning,” said Miles Kane. “That gave every guy on this team a chip on their shoulder moving into the offseason and ultimately gave everyone a reason to work harder for their goals for the next season.”
“We learned that simply nothing is given to us,” said Klay Stuver. “We know that we were the top team in the SUNYAC but now we’re going to have to impose our will and work tirelessly to prove it.”
How is it motivating the team moving forward?
“It was definitely a hard pill to swallow,” said Travis Wagner. “Moving forward we have to work hard in the offseason and show up everyday to practice ready to work.”
“We knew after we lost that we never wanted to feel that pain again,” said Dino Bowen. “Being out on that field playing as a freshman, I felt like I let the seniors down, and I knew from that instant that I was going to work as hard as I could, so that I could potentially prevent that from ever happening again.”
What the offseason was like with a new coach
It was the start of a new era this season for the team as they had got a new coach because the one the organization had for the past 17 years, retired. Lelan Rogers was named the “new” head coach of the Cortland men’s lacrosse team. I say “new” because Rogers had previously been the head coach at Cortland back in the early 2000’s before going to be the defensive coordinator for the Syracuse University men’s lacrosse team.
What is it like to get a new coach?
“There aren’t two coaches in the world that coach the same so there was definitely the factor of adapting to the new culture that Coach Rogers brought in,” said Travis Moehringer. “The energy and passion is something that this team has needed for some time and it will greatly benefit us moving forward.”
“This is not the first time this has happened to me, as I went through the same thing in high school. At first it is a little set-back trying to figure out how things are going to be run, but eventually we’ll get through the tough times and into the prosperous ones.”
What is the same and what is different/ do you like what is the same and what is different?
“I feel like the only thing that is the same is their will to win,” said Joe Delaney. “Besides that, every coach is different in how they approach their gameplan, and as players, we need to be able to adapt to it.”
“As a team, we are just trying our best to adapt to the new culture,” said Kole Stuver. “The faster that we are able to adapt, the quicker we’ll be able to reach our full potential, if not exceed it.”
How does this affect the team’s future?
“It gave everyone a clean start,” said Ryan Scanlon. “As a player, this gives you the motivation to prove yourself and show the new coaches what you’re made of without the possibility of prejudices and favorites being played”
“I think this is a great start for us,” said Colton Smith. “We’re a very young team with not a lot of players graduating, so this gives the young guys a chance to grow with a coach that we know we can trust.”
Beginning of season before games
The team had to adapt to Coach Rogers coaching style as it was different from the previous coach, Coach Beville. The team played in two scrimmages before the start of the season, at Union, and at home versus Hamilton. The scrimmages were a learning point for the team as they have never competed under the coaching staff before.
How did the scrimmages go for the team?
“We got our butts kicked in the two scrimmages,” said Dino Bowen. “It was a wake up call to us that there are plenty of good teams out there and that we are going to have to get better if we want to compete with all of them.”
“It was an ugly site to see us during the scrimmages,” said Joe Delaney. “Thank god they didn’t count towards our record, but they ultimately got us ready for our first game of the season.”
What did the team learn from the scrimmages?
“There was definitely a lot learned from the two scrimmages before the season started,” said John Bowen. “We learned that we are not as good as a team as we thought we were.”
“Losing is something that you never want to happen, even if it doesn’t count to our regular season record,” said Caden Yancey. “Those two losses made the fellas show up to practice, working their butts off, knowing that we can’t let that happen when it really counts.”
How did the scrimmages help the team moving forward?
“Scrimmages are great because they prepare you for what is to come,” said Christian Lembo. “We knew that we could go out there, practice different sets, formations, and tactics, because at the end of the day, the games weren’t going on our record.”
“We learned some things about the personnel that were on the field and how to play with each other,” said Sam Rothman. “Learning how your teammates play around you and being able to play off of them is what made the team a lot more prepared for the season.”
Games before spring break
Before the team went on spring break, they played three games and had a record of 2-1, beating St. John Fisher, and Scranton, but unfortunately losing to Cabrini in a 1 goal game. This stretch of game was very important to the team because it sort of dictated the way the rest of the season would go.
What were the positives of the first three games?
“The team was definitely skeptical of what kind of performance we were going to put on,” said Miles Kane. “Because of losing both scrimmages, we kind of doubted what we were capable of.”
“It gave the team a lot of confidence going forward with the regular season,” said Moehringer. “We knew that we could compete with anyone we played, but we also learned that we can very easily be beaten if we don’t come ready to play every game.”
What were the negatives of the first three games?
“Losing to Cabrini was a tough loss for us,” said Caden Mora. “Knowing that it was the last time we ever got to play them because their school is shutting down after this season, made it sting a little more.
“Unfortunately we’ll never be able to get revenge on them,” said Scanlon. “The loss put us back into reality after beating up on St. John Fisher and Scranton, before we headed out to Colorado.”
How did the team feel going into spring break?
“The boys were definitely excited to fly across the country to compete,” said Eccles. “You know that there were bound to be many memories made with lifelong friends.”
“It was a little hectic traveling at once with that many people,” said Sean Kavanaugh. “Our mindset was that we were going there to win both games and come home, but the team was excited to be able to spend that much time together, getting us closer which made us a better team.”
Spring break
For the team’s spring break this year, they traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they played two games. The team was very excited for this trip as it was the first time that they have flown together and stayed there for a week straight. Although they knew it was a business trip, they still knew that they were going to be able to do fun activities outside of lacrosse and enjoy a lot of team bonding time together. The team faced-off against Illinois Wesleyan, where they won the game 12-9, and Muhlenberg, where they lost 12-10.
What activities did you do outside of lacrosse while on spring break?
“We did a lot of activities outside of lacrosse,” said Wagner. “We went on hikes, went bowling, and would eat every meal as a team.”
“Having the free time that we had, we went to a few different tourist towns and walked around,” said Kavanaugh. “Walking through all the different stores and sharing those moments with your bestfriends is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Was there any team bonding/ did the guys on the team get closer?
“Being with the same guys for a week straight, non-stop, gets you to know others on the team better,” said Lembo. “We made memories that’ll last forever.”
What was different playing in Colorado?
“I always thought that the elevation of Colorado didn’t affect the athletes playing, even though almost everyone says it does,” said Ryan Eccles. “I’ll be the first one to tell you that the elevation is no joke and that it is way harder to run and catch your breath after.”
“Having huge, beautiful, snow-covered mountains in the distance on the field is surely a cool place to be able to play,” said Kane. “It was something that none of us were used to, playing in New York.”
SUNYAC play after spring break
When the team got home from their spring break trip they started out their SUNYAC play against Geneseo where they won 13-6. Throughout the rest of the SUNYAC play, they went undefeated in their conference play. Despite going a perfect 7-0 in conference play, the team would lose two out of conference matchups, RIT by 6 and Ithaca by 1.
How did conference play go?
“You can’t ask us to do any better than we did,” said Delaney. “There were some close calls with Brockport and Potsdam, but we were fortunate enough to get the win.”
“Going undefeated in conference play was our goal and expectation before the season started,” said Smith. “We knew we wanted to be the 1 seed for conference playoffs so that we got the home field advantage.”
How did the Ithaca game go?
“It was a terrible feeling to lose to a rival team like Ithaca,” said Klay Stuver. “Especially when it’s by one goal and you know that if one more play went our way, we could have easily been victorious.”
“We should have won the Ithaca game,” said Josh Michel. “We had so many opportunities to capitalize and get the win, but we were unable to do so. I think it lit a fire under some guys’ butts because from that point forward, everyone showed up to practice wanting to compete.”
What were the team’s thoughts about how the regular season went?
“There were a few games throughout the season that we should have won,” said John Bowen. “It sucks to look back as a senior knowing that we made mistakes that we shouldn’t have in some games, and the guys who are graduating will never be able to get revenge on those teams.”
“It was one of the most fun and enjoyable seasons that I’ve had the pleasure to experience,” said Rothman. “There were many ups and downs which made this team closer.”
Going into SUNYAC playoffs and losing
The men’s lacrosse team went into their conference playoffs undefeated and given the number 1 seed. Unfortunately the Potsdam Bears came to play in the semifinals of the conference tournament and would be able to pull the upset off, abruptly ending the Red Dragons season.
How did the team feel going into the conference playoffs?
“We felt really confident going into the conference playoffs,” said Michel. “We wanted to peak and play our best lacrosse at the right time.”
“Being the number 1 seed gave us a lot of confidence,” said Kane. “Unfortunately we let that get to our heads, and we didn’t make the conference championship in the first few years.”
What happened in the team’s last game vs Potsdam?
“Potsdam came to play and give us their best game,” said Mora. “We let them hang around too long and they took advantage of that.”
“Things just did not go our way,” said Yancey. “Potsdam is a good team that knew they had a chance to shock us, and we looked past them because we thought we were better.”
How did the team feel after the loss that ended their season?
“It is a terrible way to end the season by getting upset,” said Eccles. “We had bigger goals and thought that we should have made it farther.”
“It sucks to be a senior and know that you’ll never get to strap it up with your best friends ever again,” said Bradley Cunningham. “I would do anything to be able to set foot back out onto Grady field for one more practice.”