Feature photo by Hali Christensen
By Aidan McNeely
As the fall sports season is in full swing for WPU sports, the men’s lacrosse team is wrapping up its preseason and looking ahead to the spring season.
Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Troy Humphrey spoke about his thoughts on the preseason so far.
“Energy is good and the buy-in is good,” said Humphrey. “I think there’s definitely a lot of unknowns, but I think we have a pretty good foundation from what we created last spring, the excitement is there, and we’re going to keep building for sure.”
Quality character is a big part of Coach Humphrey’s coaching philosophy as he emphasizes his expectations and goals for the team this year.
“Number one is to work hard,” said Humphrey. “Number two is to be a great teammate, and anything after that is icing on the cake, so I think with being great humans and working hard, wins will come.”
With the thought that there are still many “unknowns,” Humphrey mentions players offensively and defensively to keep an eye out for.
“I’d say returning captain William English is someone we’re gonna have to rely on in every aspect,” said Humphrey. “Others on the offensive end are returners, Brandon Goad, Aidan McNeely, Quinn Acree, who are just a couple of names of guys that will contribute.”
“Very young on the defensive side, but we have guys we’re looking forward to stepping up this year,” said Humphrey. “We have returners, Thomas Newhall, Jay Sherman, Kyle Yarter, and Derrick Buchanan, who set some records last year.”
Captain and senior offensive midfielder William English, a business administration and analytics major, said the team has been making progress quickly.
“The preseason is moving along much faster compared to previous years,” said English. “There are still a few small weak spots that could cause problems down the road, such as consistent fundamentals and communication styles.”
English also aims to achieve some new goals moving forward into the spring season.
“Not getting injured and getting the single-game assist record,” said English.
Senior defensive midfielder Thomas Newhall, an exercise and sport science major, said the team’s youth has brought both challenges and excitement.
“We’ve definitely improved a lot with as many young guys as we have,” said Newhall. “It’s definitely a challenge at the beginning of every year because you have guys who’ve never been in the weight room, guys who’ve never been at a real practice like that, because high school is a lot different, so just getting everyone on the same page is kind of a challenge.”
Newhall added that he’s eager to see what this group can do.
“I really just want to play a lot,” said Newhall. “I’m focused on being 1% better every day, we’re looking to break the win record this year, and then I can graduate happy.”
Looking at the bigger picture, Humphrey said the coaching staff is focused on building a system that fits the players’ strengths.
“As coaching staff, we’re kind of in the situation of the philosophy that we put our players in the best position to be successful,” said Humphrey. “So we’re not realistically trying to fit them into our strategy and our philosophies, we’re trying to play in a way where we can fill up the net offensively and create some turnovers on the defensive side.”
With momentum building, the Pacers are ready to make some noise this spring.
“People are going to see a group of guys who love each other, celebrate everything, and work hard from the opening whistle to the last whistle,” said Humphrey.