By: John Simanski

As Fall Ball ended after Headstrong, we as a team moved into the Fall Improvement season. This consisted of us having lifting sessions four times a week and having skill sessions. We as a team would also get together on Tuesday and Thursday for team organized skill session, that we called MYB time (Make Yourself Better).  Although the Fall Improvement season was a very grueling process, it made us better as a team and that showed in many of ours weight gain, 40 times, bench press and squat. Coach Wray also ended the Fall Improvement season with a competitive and fun inter-squad scrimmage.

After the fall improvement season, us players headed into finals week. During this week we had our last team meeting, where the coaches gave us our expectations they had for us over break. This included a workout packet, running packet and a stick work packet. However, the biggest announcement was the addition of our new coach Kevin Crowley, who played at Stony Brook University. Coach Crowley will be helping out with the midfielders and man-up unit.

Although we are on Winter Break until January 15th, we are all working very hard trying to get bigger, faster and become more skilled lacrosse players. I know as a team we are all motivated by our game February 11th against Lehigh in which we want to start the season of 1-0.  

By: Pat Sinnott

In between fall and Thanksgiving break, we have been going hard every day, improving both on and off the field. The freshman class has almost reached their comfort level, which is very important to us going into the season since we have a few freshmen that are going to be key players for us. They are maturing quickly and the entire team is meshing well. With everyone bringing maximum effort to each workout, we are forging a unity within the team that is the strongest it has been. One phrase that epitomizes our mentality for our fall improvement season is "Come Ready Or Never Start," or CRONS as it has became known around campus. The team is continuously working to foster that work ethic. Despite the challenges of being a student athlete, we are maintaining good grades and enjoying our time together with the coaching staff every day. An exciting event took place after one of our workouts, a dance off between two seniors Bob Hurley and Grif Ferrigan. Grif highlighted the event with his rendition of LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It," while Hurley dominated the competition with his Jock Jams Mash Up routine, quick feet on the floor much like the late Michael Jackson.

Coming off of Thanksgiving break and gearing up for end of semester finals, our attitudes remain focused as our outlook for the spring is optimistic. We recently had a tough Monday workout coming off the break, but as a team we attacked it and got better that day. The workout consisted of 300s in the early am, followed by an afternoon which began with a timed mile to make less than 6 minutes, followed by 8 quarters of stick work, breakout patters, weight lifting, abdominal work, and continued conditioning of our legs. Currently, the senior class is gearing up for their Business Policy competitions which begin the week of 12/4. The Policy competition is for the entire senior class at SJU; each class is broken into groups of 5 seniors who had to analyze a Publicly Traded Company for the entire first semester and at the end of the semester develop a strategy for the future to improve their financials. Along with that is a research paper on the company you selected, anywhere from 30 -50 pages which your power point presentation highlights. The first groups of presentations are that Monday morning. All this week the seniors and their groups will be meeting through the nights to finalize their financials and meet with professors to make sure everything is correct, it is intense and very stressful.

As a team we look forward to a successful finals week and some much deserved time off with family. Going into break, we are committed to continuing to get better while keeping the pace with the off season workouts provided by Coach Brian and Coach Keating.

The spring season is right around the corner, and we are very excited for the season opened at Hawk Hill. There has been a lot of expressed interest and support from our families, alumni, friends, and professors for the upcoming season. Expect to see good crowds on the bleachers and outside of Post Hall.