Chris Smith and Clare Behrmann| Lindenlink Contributors

Like most sports at Lindenwood, the men’s lacrosse team is undergoing some changes.  After going 8-7 last year and 4-4 in the Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, the team is in a new conference, the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC), and hopes to finish above .500 in conference play

            Greg Cameron, a Lindenwood senior, led the team in scoring last season.  He says it’s a different team this year.

            “I would say we all have another year of experience. We got some talented players that have come in from transfers and freshman who have come in and will be huge contributors for us,” Cameron said.  “We have all been working hard to get better on and off the field and it has showed in practice and our scrimmages in the fall.” 

            In a season that features 13 games, seven of them will be played against ECAC opponents.  Some games will be against old faces, such as Colorado Mesa University, as well as new opponents like Fontbonne University.

            To begin the season, the Lions went down to Florida and went 2-1 in three games.  The loss came to Florida Southern by the score of 14-12. The Lion’s held the lead in the fourth quarter, but an eight goal run in the final 10 minutes pushed Florida Southern to the victory. The Lion’s went on to win their next two games, the first against Florida Institute of Technology, 15-8.

The third and final match proved to be the most exciting. Lindenwood and Rollins College went into a second overtime tied at 15. Senior John Pettis buried a shot just 12 seconds into the overtime period to win it for the Lions.

            Hopes are high for Lindenwood as they dig into the rest of their schedule. 

            “I think we have a really strong team, probably the best team I have been a part of in my 5 years at LU. We have a lot of talent and should surprise a ton of teams with a strong showing from start to finish this year,” said Cameron.  

            The Lions’ next game of the season is March 9th, at 7 p.m., against Shorter College here at Lindenwood.