On March 30, Rowan lacrosse fell short against Stockton University 9-14, bringing their overall record to 1-4. The team will play against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) on Saturday, April 10 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) match.
The Profs are ready to come back strong and take the win.
“We want to be better than we were last Tuesday,” coach Lindsay Delaney said. “So, today at practice we want to be better than we were at the start of practice, and we want to have a short learning curve, and we want to be able to execute.”
Much like any other team, communication is a key component the Profs continue to work at on and off the field.
“I think cohesiveness, bridging the gap between the offensive and defensive units start at practice and then continues onto the field so that although they’re two units, they’re one team…right now, there’s a gap between the attacking unit and the defensive unit that needs to be bridged,” Delaney said.
Something different the coaches did last week was allow the upperclassmen to lead team meetings with the Profs.
“That’s where ownership comes from and that’s where communication starts, so I’m hoping that was a positive change for them going forward,” Delaney said.
Sophomore Erin Renshaw is a sub on the fly for the team, or also an attacker. Last year, she didn’t get the chance to play much but on March 20, she scored her first goal of the season during the match against Kean University. That was a game Renshaw knew was meant to be.
“I don’t know what it was that day, but all my teammates and roommates were like, this is your day,” Renshaw said. “I was super hyped that day and all of my teammates were super hyped and were like, ‘this is your day to score.’”
There’s no denying that Renshaw has the energy needed to get through a challenging spring season like this one. Keeping her team upbeat is something she holds true to, and once she gets out on the field, she is ready to go.
“I love sprinting on and off the field,” Renshaw said. “I just want to sprint everywhere. I just want to go hard and go fast. Once I get in there, I’m calm and in the situation. It feels like I’m with the flow of the game.”
Before Renshaw sees her final season as a team player, she is hoping to step into a leadership role. She was captain of her lacrosse team in high school, which gives her the experience necessary to take on the task.
“I loved setting things up kind of where we would just hang out and be fun together, so that was my thing,” Renshaw said. “I was more of the captain that was just hyping everyone up and getting everyone together.”
Renshaw is a young athlete yet continues to learn more about lacrosse with every play on the field.
“Definitely logistic things like how to make better cuts or dodging, you can always learn new things,” Renshaw said. “Back to sub on the fly, we saw that only rarely in high school so that was really big to get used to and the fact that I’m doing it, that was definitely new.”
The upperclassmen on the team have given Renshaw advice that helps her let go and focus on playing her best.
“That’s kind of been my mindset this whole year, what do I have to lose,” Renshaw said. “I love this sport, and it’s always in me, it’s always in all of us, that’s why we’re all on this team. That’s what I like to remind everyone.”
“Don’t think about all of the other little things,” Renshaw said. “If our coach says something, or players say something to you, brush it off because they know you can do better.”
For comments/questions about this story, tweet @TheWhitOnline.
