SHU men’s lacrosse has started their season 3-1 and is two weeks away from their first conference games. After two big wins against Saint Joseph’s University and Holy Cross, they took a loss to Fairfield. They bounced back on Feb. 22 with a win against Stony Brook University in overtime.
SHU opened the season with a close game versus Saint Joseph’s which finished 12-11 after the fourth. The Pioneers then followed this with another win at home against Holy Cross, with a final score of 11-7.
Source: Jack Cavicchi, Web Manager and Assistant Photo Editor
Source: Jack Cavicchi, Web Manager and Assistant Photo Editor
That momentum was halted last Wednesday with a double overtime loss to Fairfield, ending 12-13.
“I’m very pleased by the way we have started, and mainly because of the way that we are learning,” said Head Coach Jon Basti. “Every team will make mistakes and you have to deal with that, but we are thankful that we were able to learn from this early in the season.”
Throughout all the games, sophomore attacker Ryan Rooney and senior captain Jake Ward have played at a high level.
“I have more confidence. It’s my second year and I am starting to feel like I am one of the boys,” said Rooney.
Rooney scored hat tricks in both wins to start the season and added a goal and an assist in the loss to Fairfield.
“It’s been a really good start to the year, I have started to settle in with some newer faces on the offensive side of the ball, and we are starting to figure out our identity offensively,” said Ward.
SHU has a young team this year that learned to mesh quickly.
“I think the challenge is the excitement, there will always be challenges, even with our seasoned vets. Being able to adapt from those challenges and move forward is exciting. We are learning on the fly and doing a very good job at it,” said Basti.
The Pioneers most recently won in overtime against Stony Brook. Ward continued his hot start to the season, now totaling four goals and ten assists on the season.
“These Saturday games are a great thing for us because they allow us to turn the page after a tough loss,” said Ward.
“What Jake means to me personally is tremendous,” said Basti. “He was an unrecruited guy out of Colorado who I knew we needed to have after watching the energy that he plays with. It’s part of his leadership style, and why his teammates voted him as a captain.”
The Pioneers have one more game against Wagner College on March 1 before they begin conference play against Canisius University on March 8. Coming off a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) title last year Coach Basti talked about what it would take to repeat.
“The MAAC is going to be a dogfight, it always is and always will be, and that is why it is such a fun conference,” said Basti.
Sacred Heart Athletics contributed to this article.
