“Dominant,” “rowdy,” “tenacious,” “fast,” and “impressive,” were all words used by the incoming freshmen to describe this year’s team.
With 18 new faces making their way onto the field, the Sun Devils have increased their depth and are looking forward to a promising season.
By simply looking at the roster, it is easy to notice the overwhelming number of underclassmen. In fact, only four seniors are listed on the roster.
“We always try to bring in as many guys as we can, I don’t really have a number. I mean we don’t want to bring in 40, that doesn’t make sense, but we generally look for 15 to 20 guys,” coach Chris Malone said.
It ensures that the maroon and gold have enough bodies on the field. It also allows for practices to be more competitive, and to force players to earn their spot on the depth chart.
“We want guys to know that if they are going to be a part of this program, they have to earn their spot year in and year out, so they have to compete and we are going to find out who wants it more,” Malone also stated.
With that, the freshmen are certainly happy to be a part of the team. Under Coach Malone, there will be no slacking on or off the field.
“Coach Malone is a great coach. On the field he is kind of vicious. But off the field he is a sweetheart,” freshman Mitchell Drake said. “I really do like him, he pushes me and I respect that.”
In the game of lacrosse, team chemistry is a huge factor in coming out victorious. Therefore all of the new Sun Devils are working on playing together as a team.
“Everyone definitely gets along, us freshmen, we all hang out outside of lacrosse, so that builds chemistry for when on the field,” freshman Nicholas McEneany said.
Aside from playing together on the field, each freshman has some type of talent to offer the team as a whole.
“I’m young so I’m still learning everything, but I feel like I can be good in transition and I’ve got a good shot, so I feel like I can put some points on the board,” freshman James “Finn” Wells said.
The upperclassmen also see the freshmen recruits to be beneficial to the team.
“There is a lot of raw talent, we are trying to work them into shape so they mold into the team,” team president Logan Quinn stated.
When asked about who he thought would be dominant, Quinn said, “It’s between Finn Wells and Everett Barger right now. We are looking for someone to fill the last part of our offense, our second midfield line, so if we get one of those two to step up then we should definitely be solid. I mean their looks alone will kill somebody.”
The ultimate goal for this Sun Devil team is to win the national championship. With new recruits, this only helps fuel that dream. Coach Malone said that the team is definitely happy to have everyone and it should be a good season.
“They are guys that we think are going to allow this program to continue on the track that it’s been on the last couple of seasons.”
