Club lacrosse climbs the ladder

Now that the University of South Dakota club lacrosse team has dipped its toes into the pool of competition, the team is ready to submerge itself in finding ways to get better and win games.

Last weekend the team traveled to Omaha to take on Creighton. The Coyotes fell 18-1 to the Blue Jays – a tough score to swallow.

But team leader senior Alex Peterson said the score has no indication of the actual game. He said his team has seen improvement it didn’t expect coming into the season.

“We had many more shots on goal, and our defense stopped at least two-thirds of their total shots,” Peterson said. “Our downfall was time of possession as the defense gets exhausted and that is how we have been giving up goals. Being able to control the ball for longer periods of time will not only give our defense a breather.”

The team came into its first season in five years, and most of the team has little-to-no lacrosse competition experience.

The team knew there was going to be some hiccups to start.

“Going into the game, we knew we would be major underdogs,” sophomore Brody Ryan said. “They have established themselves this year to be a very good team. We did, however, go into the game with more confidence as we noticed we have been improving quite a bit since we first started out.”

First-year Ryan Sztapka said he and a lot of guys have made personal strides, especially in some areas of lacrosse they didn’t expect. He said they’re starting to see it every time they hit the field to play.

“Personally, the biggest thing I’ve improved on is learning that I’m not made of glass. I can take a hit and still keep playing,” Sztapka said. “Having some guys on the team that have never played before and to see them improve so much is a really great thing.”

The Coyotes were crushed 19-0 at the hands of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln team in their first game.

“Our first game against Nebraska in Lincoln was a major wake-up call for us,” Ryan said. “It was the first game for most of our players, and seeing how other teams operate showed our guys how much harder we need to work in order to be able to compete.”

Peterson said he’s been encouraged with the improvement he’s seen from his teammates, simply from the exposure to real competition.

The team only had five players with previous lacrosse experience before the game against Nebraska.

“Our performance has been improving greatly after getting outside onto a real field,” Peterson said. “Every day of practice we see less balls hitting the ground and individual players getting better shots on goal.”

After the Nebraska game, the team had a shot at the biggest rivals USD has — South Dakota State.

“SDSU was a fun game for us,” Sztapka said. “Being rivals with them really fired us up. It was a great game that overall ended in a fight.”

It was only a scrimmage put together by the two teams, but the Coyotes put together a new defensive strategy that paid dividends in containing the Jackrabbits.

“We have a new defense that really helped us in the game against SDSU,” Sztapka said. “I have tried instilling in our players the mentality that we may not be the most skilled team with our offensive skills, but if we out run and play a physical game, we will always have a chance to win.”

Photo: Sophomore midfielder Brandon Strozyk passes the ball during practice Feb. 10 in the DakotaDome. The lacrosse team recently lost 81-1 to Creighton March 30 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Rebecca Kroeger/The Volante)