Crusaders battle to begin the season
Brayden Allen, Staff Writer
The spring sports season is officially underway on campus as the NGU Men’s Lacrosse team is back in action. For the first time since the 2018 season, the Crusaders have begun the season with a 1-0 start but have already faced challenges.
The team would crush the Lions of Young Harris 12-3 to start fresh on the year. Sophomore Luke Davis would begin the scoring with the first goal of the season five minutes into the match. This was memorable for the young player.
“It felt awesome scoring the first goal, but it was even better celebrating with my teammates,” Davis said.
Head coach Corey Struss also assessed Davis’ performance leading to the fast start for the Crusaders.
“Luke did exactly what I knew he could do,” Struss said. “He has emerged as one of our top middies after a year of growth, and I have always believed in him and his abilities since our recruiting process began with him in 2019.”
Players Hayden Moffat (pictured), Nathan Bucey, Kyle Bollman and Matt Heyden would each add goals of their own. Davis would score for a second time while Moffat would lead the scoring for the Crusaders with 4 total goals. This would put the Crusaders up 9-1 going into halftime.
In the second half, North Greenville would add three more goals. Players Cam Webb and Alex Brooks would add their name to the board leading to the 12-3 victory.
“It was a great feeling to have our guys compete (for real) for the first time,” Struss said. “It made me really excited for the next 15-plus games, but more so, excited to see what our team can turn into over the next two and a half months of practice”.
North Greenville would then head up to Hickory, NC to face a highly talented Lenoir-Rhyne team ranked at number eight in the nation.
The Crusaders would match the Bears early before Lenoir-Rhyne’s offense would gain the advantage putting them up 10-5 at the half.
In the second half, North Greenville would continue to keep it close but a late offensive attack by the Bears would give the Crusaders their first loss of the season.
Struss mentioned how pleased he was with his team’s effort when the game turned difficult.
“I was happy with the compete level of our team.” Struss said. “If we can bring that same mindset to practice, lifts, film and extra work this week, we will have success.”
He also mentioned how this team continues to grow and “continues to set new standards” using every opportunity to get better.
“The beautiful thing about February lacrosse is that our loss yesterday against #8 in the country can be redeemed if we use it,” Struss said. “Yesterday will only be a true loss if we don’t use it to learn from and get better.”
*Featured Image: Photo courtesy of NGU Athletics.
