BYU lacrosse begins title defense with fall preparation

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The BYU men’s lacrosse team finished last season as the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association national champions and begins the fall season ranked No. 1 again.

As tryouts for the upcoming year concluded recently, head coach Matt Schneck said he was impressed with the quality of the turnout.

“The talent level of the kids who tried out this year is higher than any season in the past,” he said. “I think it has to do with the fact that the team has had more exposure and kids say, ‘I wanna be a part of that program.'”

The team returns with a large nucleus of player’s from last year’s championship season; along with a great incoming class of freshmen for the Cougars.

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BYU’s lacrosse team is the defending national champion.

“This is BYU’s largest returning senior class ever,” Schneck said. “But this team is not only stacked with a great returning class of seniors, we also brought in eight high school All-Americans that made the team this year.”

Now that tryouts are finished, the team will begin their fall training. The fall season includes two exhibition games on Oct. 8 against Adams State and Mesa State in Grand Junction, Colo., and the Best of the West Tournament on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Even though the team would like to win as many games as it can this season, Schneck has bigger goals for the team.

“In the fall, our purpose is to get as many kids playing time as possible,” he said. “It’s fun to win but at the end of the day, our real purpose is to see if we have the right people on the field and to try and develop the right team chemistry.”

Leading the charge for the Cougars this season is senior attackman Ted Ferrin. Ferrin is a three-time MCLA All-American and one of the BYU team captains.

“Ted has the potential of being a four-time All-American and being one of the greatest attackmen to ever play, not only at BYU but in the league,” Schneck said. “Having that type of leadership and his passion is a great boost for the entire team.”

Ferrin’s outlook on competition is a big part of why the team has been so succesful in recent years.

“I hate to lose anything. I’m really competitive,” he said. “I like to win every day at practice, I like to win every tournament and I hope we go undefeated this season.”

As the team’s first match looms closer, the Cougars hope to use this fall as a stepping stone to defend its national championship.

“Winning the national championship last year was awesome,” said team co-captain, Drew Shumway. “It was sweet to meet our goal from last year but I think we’ve all moved on from that. We have a new focus. It’s not about last year anymore. The 2011 season was great, and we’re excited about what we accomplished but it’s all about this year now. We want to be able to stack success on top of success.”

 

 

 

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