Lacrosse Wraps Up Fall Ball
BOULDER — Even though it's the off -season for the University of Colorado lacrosse team, the Buffs stayed consistently busy throughout the whole fall. The fall season encompassed seven weeks of practice, a scrimmage day at Northwestern, an alumni game, and the team's annual banquet.
After a disappointing spring season, head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said she wanted to use the fall season to establish a strong foundation for the team before spring season begins.
"Last year, we had some great moments, along with some not great moments for us," Whidden commented. "Heading into this fall, our focus was on understanding that if we want to win championships here and have a successful season in the spring, it starts in the fall and it starts with our mentality."
During their fall ball scrimmage at Northwestern, the lacrosse team played five intense matches; one against Marquette and two against Northwestern and Florida. The team graduated 12 players last spring, so the scrimmage games allowed CU an opportunity to get most players on the field. Younger players gained more experience while veteran players had a chance to work on their leadership skills in a game scenario.
In addition to growing their skills throughout the fall ball season, the Buffs also had an opportunity to connect with lacrosse alumnae. Last weekend, more than 25 alumnae attended homecoming and numerous alumnae played against the current squad in lacrosse's annual alumnae game. The returning alumnae even took time to meet with current players' parents to discuss life after leaving CU.
Last Sunday, the Buffs wrapped up their fall season with an annual banquet. Although all alumnae are invited to the banquet, the most recent graduating class is the main focus. Both lacrosse and academic accolades were handed out to last year's seniors and current players gave speeches that reminisced on their favorite moments with the graduated seniors.
Although coach Whidden was pleased with the amount of progress her squad made throughout their off-season, she said the lacrosse team has more ground to cover.
"When we went to Northwestern we obviously played some great competition. That let us understand where we're at and what we still need to work on," Whidden commented. "Our mindset moving forward is that the challenge is on us and the challenge is on our players to take ownership over the break to try and close the gap of where we were [versus other the teams] at Northwestern. At the same time, we saw the potential we have to play against those great teams, so it's an exciting challenge."