TWC News
02.05.2009 - [Men's Lacrosse]
(Excerpt from the Daily Post Athenian, February 3, 2009, Scot Power)
Young said TWC's first lacrosse season was a success, going 6-8 and making the playoffs.

"We just want to build off what we did last year," Young said. "We had a good foundation coming in with the community and the college supporting us and we just want to add another step in, hopefully, putting Athens on the map in lacrosse."

While going 6-8 is not what Young had in mind last year, the fact that the Bulldogs made the playoffs was a solid accomplishment for a first-year team. He's hoping this year's team can perform even better.

"We would like to be .500, but we went to the playoffs last year and without making the .500 mark," Young said. "If we make it to the playoffs this year and get to the second round, I think it will be a successful season."

This season will start on Feb. 14 as the Bulldogs travel to Pfeiffer University in North Carolina. The next day, they travel to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Wesleyan's first home match is on Feb. 20 against Stonehill College (Massachusetts) and then play host the Tennessee Wesleyan Invitational Feb. 21-25. The Bulldogs again play the University of Tennessee, this time in Knoxville, on March 29.

Young said his biggest worry is the schedule.

"We play six of the top 25 teams in the country," Young said. "We play the defending national champions (Westminster, Utah). We play Davenport (Michigan), who we played in our tournament last year and who we invited back this year, and they are a top 10 team. We have a hard schedule."

Young is excited about the team he has put together, however. The Bulldogs have five players who made the all-conference team last year with Anthony Hunt, Blake Harper, Brandon Singleton, Ryan Horvath, Joel Gossner receiving the honor. The 30-man roster has 12 returning players, including all five all-conference players.

The Bulldogs are also bringing in 18 freshmen, a class Young believes has the potential to be pretty good. He thinks out of his 10 starters, four or five could be freshmen with the other starters likely being last year's all-conference team members.

"It's yet to be seen, but I think it can be a pretty strong freshman class. Already, there's talk from some coaches that one of our two freshmen possibly being on the rookie of the year, Andrew Congleton or Jon Montague," Young said."

No matter the results, the fans that come out to the watch should be entertained by TWC's fast-paced style.