It’s only fall, but for the Utah lacrosse team, it is never too early to start practicing.
The players practice three times a week and during the fall, they participate in several scrimmages to prepare for their spring season.
“It’s a warm-up for the season,” said captain Jake Vadeboncoeur. “It helps get all the new kids on the same page and helps everybody get introduced to what we are going to be doing in the spring.”
Fall practices and scrimmages give the Utes a chance to come together as a team and build chemistry before the season starts.
“We get to scrimmage a lot, so the freshmen and the younger guys get a lot of experience,” Nick Merrell said. “It’s nice to get everyone together as we start to build a team. It’s pretty important.”
According to Vadeboncoeur, last season was below average for the Utes. They implemented an entirely new coaching staff and learned to adjust to the new, more structured style of play that new head coach Craig Morris wanted to enforce.
“Last year, the (coaching staff) transition was harsh,” Vadeboncoeur said. ” We lost a lot of key games that we should have won.”
The first year with a new coaching staff is difficult in any sport, and the Utes handled the change as well as they could.
“We (as coaches) had a successful first year,” Morris said. “We accomplished a lot of what we wanted to do, which was to change the culture of the program, to bring in our systems, and to move things in a forward direction.”
Last year, Utah finished below .500 with a 6-8 record, losing key games against conference teams BYU and University of Colorado. The Utes finished fourth out of six teams in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference with only two conference wins.
Although the Utes would have liked to finish with a better record last year, they are a part of one of the toughest conferences in Division-1 lacrosse and, according to Morris, had one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
“Last year was a tough schedule, and we dropped one or two games that we should have won,” Pat Guinn said. “We played a lot of teams that were in the top 15, and we didn’t have a lot of games that were easy wins.”
Last year, the Utes lost eight key senior players and this year, they will have to fill the void they left behind.
“We lost a great senior class, there is no question about that,” Morris said. “Certainly our players have to step up and fill those roles.”
This season, Utah is looking to take its players and form a strong team for the spring. The Utes know it is possible to break into the top 25 again this season and a trip to the national tournament is a feasible goal.
“We”ll have to be ranked in the top 16 to earn a trip to the national tournament and that is certainly one of our goals as we look forward to the season,” Morris said. “We are going to have to win some tough ball games in conference to make that happen.”
The team will have its first test Friday as it plays in its first scrimmage against Utah Valley University.