By Pat Mariboe
Senior Writer
The Shoremen had their first taste of action this past week in a scrimmage against Arcadia in preparation for their season opener against Birmingham-Southern.
Sophomore Cooper Sloan said he was thrilled with his team’s performance against Arcadia and hoped for a similar result in their first official matchup on Saturday.
“We showed that we could be a dominant team and set the bar really high for ourselves,” Sloan said. “We focused on getting better as a team that day and it was exciting to get to fight against somebody other than ourselves for the first time this season. However, right after it was over we immediately focused on getting better each day in anticipation for Saturday’s game against Birmingham-Southern. They’ll be a good first test for us as we have a standard to live up to and they’re a team that we can do that against if we execute as well as we should so as long as we take care of our business there’s no reason we don’t start the season off 1-0.”
The Shoremen finished the Arcadia scrimmage ahead 24-6.
The sophomore attackman from Long Valley, N.J. excelled in his role on the team last season, finishing with the third-highest team point total of 38. Ahead of Sloan were the dynamic duo of seniors Tanner Barbieri and Tyler Powers, who look to finish off their last season of collegiate lacrosse on a high note.
Sloan hopes to play a bigger role this season and is looking forward to the challenges ahead.
“This year as a sophomore, my experience has thrown me into a bigger leadership role on the team,” Sloan said. “Obviously I’m still learning new things every day from the coaches and upperclassmen but I have high expectations for myself now that I have a year of college lacrosse under my belt. I’m excited to get this season going because this is a special group of guys.”
The Shoremen put in a demonstrative effort against Birmingham-Southern with a score of 16-7. Junior Casey Grieves was the standout performer for the team, tallying five goals and two assists. Seniors Ben Flood and Sam Cloud contributed on the defensive end, as Flood managed 11 saves, and Cloud collected seven ground balls and caused four turnovers.
The team’s first Centennial Conference game kicks off on Saturday, March 24 against Dickinson at noon, in which the team looks forward to showing the improvements they’ve made during their busy preseason.