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Syracuse club lacrosse player John Eads exited the Carrier Dome into the snow, beginning a half-mile walk back to his dorm at Booth Hall after a socially-distanced and contactless practice last February. With limited time slots available for each club team to practice due to the pandemic, Eads left practice unsure if and when he would be able to return to the Dome.

But if the team did return before the next season, Eads knew it would only be for practice – not for any games.

“I think the biggest challenge (of last season) was just staying committed to it,” Eads said. “At a certain point you (question) what the point (is) of even doing this — spending these couple of hours every week — because we’re not going to be playing games.”

Almost eight months later, SU’s men’s club lacrosse team enters the 2021 season with increased optimism, Eads said. Instead of practicing in the Carrier Dome, practice has moved outdoors to a field on South Campus twice per week, and the team intends to play games against other universities this season. While the team “does not do a lot of recruiting,” participation in tryouts doubled from last year to this year, Eads said.

Senior transfer Nate Scarlata was one of the new players at tryouts this year, and he knew he wanted to play the sport at Syracuse after playing lacrosse since preschool. So, one of the first things he did upon arriving at SU was reach out to see how he could join the club lacrosse team.

“From playing lacrosse every day and growing up around it, I knew there was no way I was going to stop playing,” Scarlata said.

After getting acclimated to his new team environment, Scarlata said he didn’t “have any regrets” about his decision.

“You (feel like) you’re just playing with your buddies,” Scarlata said. “It makes you appreciate (having) the freedom to explore and maybe mess up a few times.”

Scarlata is not the only newcomer finding his role within the camaraderie of the team. Freshman Mack Wolschina said that while fitting in and showcasing his talent with a new team can be a “challenge,” he embraces that there is “a little less pressure” that comes with club play as opposed to his former high school team. There’s a good mix of players on the team who take the sport seriously and those who enjoy a “casual playing environment,” he said.

Despite the friendly atmosphere during practices, Wolschina said he had “a little bit of nerves” competing amongst a new set of teammates. But those nerves faded away once the team got to know each other better.

“Everyone was really friendly and welcoming, so those nerves went away pretty quickly,” Wolschina said.

While the team does not have any games officially planned yet, Eads said it has already reached out to Colgate and plans on contacting other schools — including SUNY Cortland and Cornell – to schedule games for this season.

But the lack of clarity surrounding this season’s opponents has not stopped the players from setting goals for the 2021-22 campaign, both on a personal level and for the team as a whole.

“If we can go into our region and be victorious out of our region (by beating) all the schools around here, I think that’d be a pretty good, solid step for us,” Scarlata said.

Published on October 24, 2021 at 7:28 pm

Contact Spencer: spgoldst@syr.edu