2013 Lehigh Lacrosse Player Blog: Harry Lawrence Guest Writes
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The 2013 season is here and we wanted to work closely with college programs to bring a part of the excitement to you. Throughout the 2013 season we will highlight lacrosse programs on our space for all of our readers to follow. Player blogs serve as a unique outlet for programs to showcase their season as it develops, plus highlight everything they have to offer a student-athlete. In contrast, families and fans get a glimpse into the program’s athletic and academic regimen.
Brian Hess
Midfielder - #2
Blog 6 - Harry Lawrence Guest Writes: The Debut
When our Sports Information Director Justin Lafleur (who is the best in the country, no questions asked) approached me about writing the blog this year, I knew I would need a fine young man on our team to proof read my blogs so I would ensure that I would sound like an absolute genius writing this. My choice was none other than Harry “The Stick Doctor” Lawrence, who is one of the lone English majors on the team (AKA he was my only choice). He agreed to proofread every one of my blogs and add input as long as he got one guest blog during the year, so here it goes. Shout out to my boy Harry L on his debut…
Walking off the field last Tuesday after losing to UPenn was a terrible feeling. After coming so close, putting up a stone wall defensively, and not being able to come out with a victory left a lot of guys on the team shaking their heads, looking for answers. With almost half the season completed and a 3-3 record, we knew there was much more talent on this team than our record indicated. We had an incredible opportunity to change that at the Independence Classic sponsored by Whitman’s Sampler at PPL Park in Chester, PA. Before we made the trip to Philly, our team had to ensure that we put in two quality days of practice to give ourselves the best possible chance to succeed. After an uncharacteristic offensive slump against UPenn, the white squad defense took it upon themselves to give our starting offense a great look. Sammy “When Ya Hot Ya Hot” Lawrence was going rogue as usual and making plays all over the 6v6. Friday’s walkthrough ended on a positive note with Mikey “Nugs” Noone earning practice player of the day honors.
We hit the road around noon on Saturday and made the hour and a half trip southwest towards Chester. On the way, we stopped for a pregame meal at Italian Village Restaurant and Pizzeria for a typical pregame meal of pasta and chicken. Andrew “Don’t mess with the Cow” Mower set a new NCAA record for eating 12 buttered rolls in one sitting. As we pulled up to PPL Park, it was hard to ignore the scenery of the Delaware River sitting behind the stadium on such a beautiful day. You couldn’t have asked for a better day to play lacrosse at 55 degrees with the sun shining; Perfect. About one third of our team is from the greater Philadelphia region, and it was an awesome opportunity for guys like myself to play in front of family and friends. We hopped off the bus and headed into the locker room while Villanova and UPenn were playing. We were lucky enough to call the Union’s (Philly’s pro soccer team) locker room our home for the night and it was pretty sick. Players made the most of the incredible facilities and really started to get hype for the upcoming tilt. Guys on the team have a lot of different ways to kill time before a game. Many took the opportunity to catch some rays and watch a little bit of the UPenn Villanova game that was taking place. Seeing the UPenn squad was a sore reminder of our loss to them only a few days before and served as a great motivator heading into the night’s big matchup.
Against PSU, there were a bit of pregame jitters as the Nittany Lions got off to a 1-0 lead. But after we settled down, our offense was able to rattle off five straight goals to head into halftime up by four. We headed into the locker room happy with our efforts, but by no means content. Unfortunately the hot start we had in the first half was cooled off by Penn State as they tied it up 6-6 going into the fourth. With the pressure on, our team fought back from a two-goal deficit at 7-9 in the fourth to win the game 12-10. Our success came from the return of goalie Matt “Petey” Pollion (who has the nastiest head of hair in Division 1) and a balanced offensive attack. Dante Fantoni led the way with 3 goals and 2 assists, but it was our midfield who stepped up big featuring a breakout game from Patty “crank it up” Corbett and solid contributions from Alex Drake, Brian “Charlie Conway" Hess, resident cowboy Cody Ferraro, do-it-all midfielder Alan Henderson, and Kyle Stiefel, who was feeling energized after eating roughly two hundred Gatorade Power Chews from the Union Locker room. The entire bus ride consisted of the fifth rerun of the MarkyMark/Damon/DiCaprio masterpiece that is The Departed, as well as unyielding efforts to get Dan Taylor’s two behind the back plays (1 G, 1 A) on SportsCenter’s Top Ten Plays. Curse you, Kevin Negandhi.
The win felt amazing and it became a unanimous decision after the game that the Hawks were indeed back, baby. However, since this is the only chance I’ll have to voice my opinions in Captain Hess’s intolerable dictatorship -- our win song this season, “Clarity” by Zedd, has been a suspect call all season long. That being said I am calling for a new, nation-wide search for the Mountain Hawks 2013 win song. Email all entries to: DJMattyIce45@Istingcorners.net.
Even though we felt like we were back on track as a unit, our film session on Sunday afternoon proved that there is still much to work on. It is essential to keep refining all aspects of our team if we want to achieve all of our team’s goals this season. Alan Henderson took home player of the game honors after recording his first goal of the 2013 campaign, as well as playing some great SSDM. Alan is also the owner of a new bunny rabbit named Roman. He seems oddly attached to it. At the conclusion of film, Coach Cassese gave us our schedule for the week, which was going to be our first full week of practice in a while and needless to say, a grind. Being all alone on campus with lacrosse as our only activity gave the guys a lot of free time to themselves and also to enjoy some team scheduled events at night. After an intense practice and lift on Monday, the boys all ventured to the Rave Movie Theater to see Dead Man Down. After this movie, I decided two things, 1. Milk Duds are the most underrated candy in the game right now, and 2. Colin Ferrell is the Ultimate Badass. He and frosh Ray Mastroianni have a lot in common in my mind, just old fashion good looks and an uncanny ability to talk to women.
Tuesday was an interesting day of practice as we saw Coach Tommy Compitello make his debut as number 9 from Army in preparation for their all league attackman. It was fun to watch coach run around and give our starting D the business as toe drags and low to high lefty rips were at an all time high. Additionally, Coach Callahan took advantage of the great weather by showing off his prize-winning calves, which he loves so much, just ask him about it. If you watch carefully enough, you can catch him flexing them during defensive conditioning segments. On Wednesday, we turned our attention from ourselves to the Army Black Knights. When asked by friends and family, it is natural to respond that every game on the schedule is just as important as the next. However, once Patriot League play starts, there is no denying intensity and play is elevated. Considering no one has repeated as PL champs for several years, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks are trying their hardest to be the first to do it in a while. That only comes from extremely hard work and dedication to the little details, which we know will be the deciding factor in our team’s success this year. Shouts to Schmacka for letting me get a run at this blog. He’s an absolute boss. You’ll get her one day kid, I have no doubt. And an additional shout out goes to the brotherhood formerly known as 510. RIP.
-#24