Pittsburgh, Pa. (Oct 10th, 2011) – The La Roche College Men's lacrosse team concluded its fall season by competing in a pair of scrimmages this past Saturday against Davenport and Wooster College. The two exhibition games were played during the Stefanie Speilman Breast Cancer Research Lacrosse Fundraiser, at the Hawkins School just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. The event raised over $12,000 dollars and attracted over 1,000 people. For more information about the event and the fund visit: http://brlax.net/template_breastcancershowcase.cfm
The two exhibition games gave second year head coach Anthony Stamatopoulos the opportunity to implement his plans for the 2012 season. "We were excited to play two quality opponents in Davenport and Wooster. We had a great fall and these games allowed us to find our strengths and weaknesses. They provided us the opportunity to try new things and place personnel in areas that we think can help the team in the spring. Because of bad weather, our preparation wasn't where we wanted it to be, so we moved some things we planned to do in practice to the first scrimmage".
"We played everyone in the first scrimmage against Davenport so we could assess players individually and as units. We got about 80% of this accomplished, which is about all you can expect with a fall ball game. For the first six minutes, we played what we think will be our starting rotation in the spring, and then we started moving people around. As you'd expect, things were pretty sloppy, but you can't get a good read without letting the boys play".
"We approached the second scrimmage against Wooster if it were more like a spring game. Not so much with the personnel on the field, but with our approach to the game and how the coaches and the players conducted themselves. Considering where our program is and where we were with our fall ball development, we thought this was a solid way to approach it. I was very pleased with how we handled ourselves during the scrimmage".
"Our goal was to improve and get better and we definitely did that. It's like night and day if you compare us to where we were at in the fall of 2010 and we have similar expectations for improvements for the spring. There are a lot of bright spots to look forward to and the staff and I are encouraged about where we can go from here".
In addition to the day of lacrosse, Stamatopoulos was proud of the LRC Men's lacrosse supporters' contributions. "After a good day of lacrosse on the field, it was great to see all the families, friends and fans that came out to watch the scrimmages and donate to the fund".
The Redhawk's concluded their fall ball season on October 8th, and now move into individual winter workouts.