Finding Redemption In Victory

The games we played this past week were very much about one thing: redemption. Our games against Keuka College and Castleton State College are two of the teams we have been yearning to defeat since my first season as a Brewer. The last time times we played Keuka was in a monsoon where five fourth quarter Keuka goals put a game out of reach for us. With Castleton, an incredibly physical game ended in an overtime loss. These were games we really needed to win, not just for ourselves, but for the former Brewers who just missed the chance to put these opponents away when they wore the Vassar lacrosse uniforms.

Following the Manhattanville game, one thing was very apparent. Our offense needed to pick up our level of aggression in a major way, because scoring three goals in lacrosse simply does not win games. Instead of being tentative and overly-patient on the offensive side of the field we needed to get fearless and not be afraid to take chances.

Lacrosse is a sport that originated as a way for Native American tribes to resolve religious conflicts through battling on a playing field that could be miles long in some cases. Those who played were not merely athletes carrying sticks, but were warriors fighting for the respect and honor of their tribe.

This past week of practice we worked on going from a group of athletes to a group of warriors who wanted to represent our college with energy and passion that no other team could equal. Throughout the entire week the competitive nature between the offense and the defense during practice was equal to two male rams charging at one another at full speed to display its dominance. Even outside of practice there was a friendly trash-talking atmosphere that even resulted in a brotherly brawl between the two sides before practice one day. This intensity between the two sides was exactly what set the tone for the offensive explosion that took place against both Keuka and Castleton, netting us the first two wins of the season. This give Vassar lacrosse a winning record for the first time since I have been here.

One of the greatest parts of Spring break, aside from the incredible amount of bonding time we have with one another, is that the culmination of weeks of work for a completely different purpose comes to fruition. This work is finally seeing each player returning the first day of spring break with the most ridiculous mustache they could physically grow. Sure, trying to see some individuals’ mustaches is like trying to see peach fuzz with a magnifying glass (cough cough Nick), but others really knock this out of the park (sorry for the baseball reference laxers).

Adam Ben-Avi’s zig-zagging mustache really takes the cake as the best facial hair on the team, while Ross certainly wins for having the mustache that makes nearby individuals the most uncomfortable. Still, no one quite has a mustache like Mr. Gottlieb, but then again, his has been years and years in the making, having never shaved since college.

For now, we have another day to practice and get back at it for some more redemption against a Kean team that has taken it to us the previous two seasons. At this point, every stride we take is not only huge for our team, but huge for the Vassar lacrosse program as a whole.