GROVE CITY, Pa. – Grove City College men’s club lacrosse team received a bid to compete in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association Division II National Tournament in Denver, Colo. The No. 9 Wolverines will face off against No. 8 Western Oregon May 11 at 1 p.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, home of Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids.
The team notched a 6-2 regular season record and a 3-1 division record, and is led by captains Josh Hostetler, a senior from Elicott City, Md., junior Andrew Dymski of Carlisle, Pa., and senior Alex Teal of Williamsville, N.Y. The trio acts as a mouthpiece between players, coaches and referees. The captains lead in a variety of ways throughout a given contest, such as directing action on the field vocally and by example. Instructing the Wolverines are Head Coach Mark Sandvig ’07 and Assistant Coach Jim Thrasher ’80.
Grove City Midfielder Gray MacKenzie (#13) scoops a groundball in a game against Taylor University on April 10, 2010. Grove City won the game 14-11. Photo by Kevin Hanse '13.
Founded in 1993 by a student group of avid lacrosse players, the Wolverines joined the MCLA in 2006. In 2008, Grove City made its first CCLA D-II playoff appearance.
The lacrosse team has rallied around the motto, “As one for an Audience of One,” throughout the 2010 season. “We are a family that shares a passion for glorifying the Lord and a passion for the game of lacrosse,” said Dymski. “It means that win or lose, we are still playing strong, we never stop fighting and we never give up because God has blessed us with great abilities.”
In order to make a run in the tournament, the team will rely on their abilities and each other. “We must exercise utmost disciple as we play our game; control the ball and lock down on defense,” said Coach Sandvig. “When a team is made up of individuals who genuinely know and care for one another, special things can happen on the field.”
Sandvig’s theory has proven true as the club sport team has captured wins against other quality programs including University of Pittsburgh, SCAD and Elon University. The team credits the tight-knit relationship with one another as the key ingredient to its success, believing it will also separate them in the national tournament.
“I would much rather have a team that loves and trusts each other and plays like a family than one that doesn’t, because that is the type of team that can rise out of that hole and succeed,” said Teal. “I think if we show up with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, a little bit of a nasty attitude and a mindset of clawing and fighting every second we’re on the field, we’ll walk away satisfied with the scoreboard.”
For more information about the men’s club lacrosse team, visit www.grovecitylacrosse.com. To learn more about the MCLA Playoffs, visit http://mcla.us/.
The above article about Grove City Men's Lacrosse was written by Michael Baker and this release is available for download at www.gcc.edu/news, where subscribers can also sign up for RSS feeds.
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