The Point Loma Nazarene University lacrosse club began its season with a match against University of San Diego on Saturday, Feb. 11. The Sea Lions came up short, losing the game 20-10. Despite the outcome, some players, like fourth-year business entrepreneurship major Ethan Buck, are looking forward to how the team is shaping up this season.
“The game was a huge success,” Buck said.
The game started a little after 1 p.m., and PLNU fell behind quickly in the first half. The Sea Lions’ goalie had never played a lacrosse game before and only attended one practice before being PLNU’s goalkeeper.
“The kid is an absolute legend and did his best after only being able to attend one practice before the game, but we quickly fell behind on the scoreboard,” Buck said.
At halftime, PLNU’s former goalie, Dylan Coombs, came down from the stands, put on a jersey and played the rest of the game as goalie.
“He eats up balls and led us to a much tighter second half; it was great to have him on the field with us one more time as a senior,” said Buck.
Getting people out on the field has been somewhat of a challenge for the lacrosse club. Currently, the team doesn’t have many substitute players, which has been challenging for the team, according to second-year media communication major Leo Krolczyk.
“The subs are slim. So we get gassed out there pretty easily because we only have like three subs,” Krolczyk said.
However, Buck argues that what the team lacks in numbers, it makes up for in mentality.
“We’ve got small numbers compared to our competition but that just adds to the underdog mentality and scrappiness that the boys love and embrace,” Buck said.
On top of the lack of numbers, the PLNU lacrosse club has also had trouble reserving field space both on campus and off, according to Krolczyk. Due to strict NCAA field rules, the field on campus usually needs time to rest in between uses, leaving PLNU clubs with little time slots to use it. The club was able to reserve the field for the game but ran into issues after the lines were painted incorrectly.
“We were barely able to get the field space [for the game] because they cut the lines two days later and got rid of the lines they just painted,” Krolczyk said.
To add onto the field troubles, the club also has to practice off campus at Robb Field in Ocean Beach. If that’s occupied, the players are left with practicing at Ocean Beach on the sand.
This is the club’s second year ever playing in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). It was formed in the summer of 2021, and the team was eventually able to play in the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference (SLC) of the MCLA in spring of 2022.
Former lacrosse player and second-year mechanical engineering major Jacob Le commented on what it was like to compete in the team’s inaugural season.
“It was fun doing something that the school’s never done before,” Le said. “Being an inaugural team we were considered the underdogs, so if we got a win, that was a big deal because no one expected us to show up or win any games.”
This season is just getting started and the Sea Lions’ next home game is set for March 3 on PLNU’s field.
Written By: Steve Anderson
