11.1

SPORTS

The Norwich Guidon
October 16, 2003

Lacrosse team has championship goal this season

By Eric Beauregard
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Even though they have not reached the playoffs in over two years, the Norwich Lacrosse team mindset is to work their way to the championship with a strong, young team.

Matt Diamond, 19, a sophomore, a war and peace major from Texas, said, "One of the teams that I'm willing to beat this year is Western New England College.

"We have a lot more talented freshmen this year coming up," Diamond said.

"Right now, the guys are involved in captains' practices, which means that the captains are leading their team through running, lifting, and stick skills," said Marc Klaiman, the lacrosse head coach.

Klaiman said that his goals and expectations include winning the conference championship and then going on to play in the National playoffs. The team has the potential to go places, Klaiman said, adding that the team has a "pretty good freshman class" to definitely pick the team up for years to come ahead.

"We are going to train a whole lot differently," Klaiman said. "We are going to run hard, be in good shape; we're doing something to get the ball in the goal, more consistent defense."

Ryan Patrick Reed, 18, a freshman criminal justice major from New Hampshire, said that he "was interested in Norwich, because my father is an alumnus. So I filled the recruiting application, and coach Klaiman called me," Reed said. "What I plan on doing for the team is to contribute one way or another.

"The team has a lot of talent," Reed said. "That's what I came here to do, to step it up."

"This is my second season with the team. There was a lot we did last year; we played extraordinarily well," said Tossaint Freemen, 19, a sophomore criminal justice major from Maryland. "This season, I really expect a lot from the lacrosse team, because we have five new freshmen playing the attack position.

"For this season, we really did not get any new equipment, yet," Freemen said. "Usually, we get them when practices start; that's around February."

There is no indication that the team will receive anything early, Freeman said. "The one thing that I know will happen is, when it becomes colder, we will practice in Shapiro Field House. And when the weather is exceptionally warm, we play on the soccer field."

Patrick Quin, 21, a junior criminal justice major from Maryland, expects the team to be a little bit stronger on defense, but offense might not be as good as last year.

"There is no worry, because we've got a group of great freshmen, and most of them are in rookdom for the Corps of Cadets," Quin said. "For Division III, the challenging schools that I am looking after are probably Western New England College, St. Michael's College and Mass Maritime."

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.