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.
Danielle Etrasco
Senior – #13 – Attacker
Boston University
Week 4: Use your noodle
So last week when I was complaining about the long two weeks we had before our first game, I take it back! We have officially entered crunch time and have exactly one week until our first game. What really boggles my mind is that so many other teams have already started. They have to be crazy…especially the New England schools. What if it snows? What if another Nemo attacks?! Seriously now. We’ve had the same season opener for the past 6 years and I’m not saying we’re perfect but what’s the rush?
The UPenn playday was great for assessing both things that went well and areas that need improvement. What better way to address these issues than with film. Film is a great for a couple of reasons. First, there’s no denying what you see on screen. If it’s on film it happened and you can’t talk your way out of it. It happened, you did it, and we all saw it. Now what you do from there is your decision; I think film is a great opportunity to learn from your mistakes and visualize what you could’ve done versus what you actually did. Second, film is a prime opportunity to watch things your teammates do really well. Let’s say there’s a specific cut one girl always seems to get open on, sometimes in practice there’s just not enough time to really slow things down and figure it out, but on film you have all the time in the world. Third, let’s call a spade a spade here, film is hilarious. What’s better than rewinding a clip and watching everyone get sucked backwards down the field by a nonexistent vacuum. And everyone loves a good slow-mo clip. Not to call anyone out here but our entire team was in tears watching junior attacker Liz Morse literally getting knocked out of her cleats. Good old film, it’s a serious love hate relationship but at the end of the day it really is helpful.
Typically the practice plan (or as we refer to it, the PP) is a surprise. We will warm up, do stick work, some small sided drills, and eventually scrimmage; but the nitty gritty details, those are always a toss up. Our coaching staff loves to get creative with our shooting drills and this week the foam pool noodles came out. That’s right, floatation devices. The idea was that it would make it hard for us to catch, feed, shoot, etc amongst the chaos. Well, mission accomplished. There’s nothing quite like having your coaches wave neon foam noodles in your face; you’d think they would crack a smile every once in a while but no, stone faced. I can’t say I completely kept my cool while Liz and Kim waved the noodles around and tried to poke me with pool toys while I tried to feed from the crease. Noodles aside, we’ve been able to practice outside a lot in the past week because, surprise surprise, it’s been in the high 20s-30s! So one day a couple of us were just outside shooting around, a couple of us attackers just enjoying rippin’ some twine. This particular day it must have been a little warmer than normal, a comfortable 40°, and slowly but surely the entire team began to wander out. One thing led to another, the defenders got jealous and they decided it was their turn to try shooting. You never know when a defender will have the opportunity to shoot, so why not be prepared? What a nice day it turned out to be. Our defenders proved they could shoot, we were all laughing and joking around, but the only two not having fun were our goalies. They weren’t exactly happy that a few low defenders ripped stick side high. Whoops, sorry goalie world, just trying to get everyone a couple offensive looks.
Off the field, we’re still kicking butt and taking names at boxing. Jokes. Boxing is absolutely kicking all of our butts. This past Thursday we added a station to the death circuit. Grab a partner, grab boxing gloves, and grab the blockers, those were our instructions. For 20 minutes we took turns punching at each other. If your arms got tired and your hands dropped, you got punched in the chest. If you and your partner got off rhythm, you were going to get punched. And if your partner missed the blocker (oops!), you were getting punched. So all in all, there was a good 20 minutes of your life that there was a high probability you were getting punched. Some people just didn’t choose their partners wisely: short should not be with tall, big should not go with small, and fast should certainly not go with slow. So in the future I think my teammates will choose a little more wisely, for their sakes I hope.
This next week we’ll be gearing up for our season opener vs. UMass (Nickerson field at 3:00 if you’re in the Boston area). I know I speak for everyone when I say we can’t wait to take the field and get going on this 2013 season. Stay tuned for next week’s post about pregame rituals, practices leading up to the big day, and anything else noteworthy.