Sophomore Will Lehman attempts a tag-out at first base.
Courtesy | Ashley Van Hoose

The Hillsdale College Lacrosse Club took the field at Hayden Park last Saturday, about to play the first competitive lacrosse on campus in over 35 years with only four players having prior experience competing in the sport. 

The team played two games on Saturday, March 28, against Oakland University and Northern Michigan. Although they lost both, players said it’s an important first step.

“To me, it didn’t matter how the game went; the fact that we built a team, and we were competing against other colleges was a win for me,” said co-founder and student-coach senior Patrick Hamilton. 

According to Hillsdale College graduate and former club lacrosse player and coach Jeff Emery ’79, the road back to having a club lacrosse team has been a long one. 

“The club lacrosse team was first founded by current Vice-President of Hillsdale College John Cervini in 1972,” Emery said “I played and coached at Hillsdale from 1975 through 1990. When I moved from the area, no one picked up leadership, and the club died.”

The club stayed dead for the following 35 years. Hamilton thought of resurrecting the club in his sophomore year and officially brought it back his senior year. 

“Bringing back lacrosse to Hillsdale was a conversation senior Marc Ayers and I had in our sophomore year,” Hamilton said. 

Although the motivation was there, Hamilton encountered troubles early on.

 “The biggest problem was just getting guys to commit,” Hamilton said. “Lacrosse is not an easy sport to pick up. The first step is getting guys up to a college-level proficiency in their stick skills, being able to have the endurance to play, and then you just build up a pain tolerance for taking big hits.”

Freshman Carson Brower emphasized the physical component of the sport.

“When I got hit for the first time in-game, I folded like I was a toy in Toy Story when Andy walks in,” Brower said.

Sophomore Jack Strickler pointed to the physicality as something he really enjoyed about the sport when he played for the first time.

“I started playing lacrosse in the spring last year without having ever touched a lacrosse stick before,” Strickler said. “One thing that really bought me in was the physicality. You get hit really hard, and you get to hit people really hard, and that’s a lot of fun. By our first practice, I was hooked.” 

Despite this positive response from some, not all beginners echoed positive sentiments.

“The first time I played lacrosse was in our off campus house, Boondocks’ upstairs hallway a few weeks ago,” said senior Tommy Smith. “I kept playing because Patrick asked me to play goalie. He forgot to mention that people launch a rubber ball at you at 75 mph.”

Despite his little practice, Hamilton said Smith outperformed expectations during Saturday’s games.

“I remember the Oakland goalie and defenders in awe over the fact that Smith, our goalie, had first put pads on the Wednesday before our Saturday games,” said Hamilton. 

Hamilton and Ayers did their best to prepare the team regardless and were beyond excited to play their first games. 

“There was a lot of emotion when we first took the field,” Hamilton said, “I’ll admit I was very nervous, but as we were doing the warm-ups, I had a big smile on my face and was very proud of what we had just accomplished.” 

Strickler agreed with Hamilton, adding the team still learned a lot from the losses. 

“I couldn’t be more pleased with how we played,” Strickler said. “Over half of the team had never seen a lacrosse field before Saturday, and although we lost, we really needed those first in-game experiences to grow as players and as a team.” 

Despite the losses, there were a few highlights for the club during Saturday’s games. 

“Patrick and freshman Christian Rush scored two absolutely electric goals, and we created a lot of opportunities for goals that we just didn’t capitalize on,” said Strickler. “We looked like a legit lacrosse team, which is really exciting because Hillsdale hasn’t had that in 35 years. The future is very bright.”

Current president of the club, freshman Boden Starr, said he loves seeing new people get into the game and wants to grow it as much as possible. 

“I love seeing people getting into the sport after never having played before,” Starr said. “I want to continue the program so that those who still want to play after high school can still take advantage of the opportunities Hillsdale has to offer.” 

Hamilton said he is confident the club can and will build on this momentum during its away games on April 11. 

“This Saturday, we play Ferris State and the University of Chicago, and Hillsdale will be victorious,” Hamilton said.