Break out the sticks, retwine the goals and let the fun begin. Lacrosse season is officially in session.
The Spartans finished last year as Deep South Conference regular champions and reached the finals for the DSC championship before falling to Colorado Mesa. But this year the squad looks better than it has in the past two years of the program’s existence.
At the helm of the team is head coach Rory Whipple, who is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division II and in his third year as head coach, and he expects great things from the squad this season.
“We want to win the conference so we can win our bid to the NCAA tournament. We want to win the tournament outright,” Whipple said. In order to do this, the team will have to excel in the inaugural lacrosse season for the Sunshine State Conference against the likes of Saint Leo and Florida Southern. Fortunately for the Spartans, according to a poll conducted by the SSC head coaches, they are predicted as overwhelming favorites to win the SSC title in April.
But don’t think for a second that these high expectations make Coach Whipple nervous. When asked of how he will handle the pressure, Coach Whipple coolly responded, “I don’t look at it as pressure. We are playing a tough schedule but we know what we want to get done on the field and we plan to work hard to achieve that.”
For the Spartans to reach the title by the end of the season they will have to do so without previous All-American attacker Greg Griffo, who graduated from UT after last year.
“Certainly when you lose an All-American you feel bad,” Whipple said. “But we have others looking to step up to fill the void.”
“Those others” include three key transfer students who will pay large dividends for the Spartan attack this season. They include Jake Rooney from Hofstra and Mike Morris from John Hopkins. Both began their sophomore years at UT last fall, and they are joined by freshman transfer Conor Whipple, who is arriving at the University of Tampa after a fall semester at Georgetown.
“With those three guys and seniors like Brian Patton and Kyle Hemrick, I believe we have one of the best attack units in the country,” Whipple said.
Head Coach Whipple is just as confident in his players’ abilities on both sides of the ball and let it be known about the strength of his team’s defense this year. “We are also getting two time All-American Wayne Magee back this year after he was forced to miss last season and he is a huge asset to us on defense. Marty Heyn led the team in turnovers last season. They are two strong defensemen and will anchor the defense.”
But it is more than just on the field where the team performs well.
This past November,the University of Tampa men’s lacrosse team fundraised over $4,000 for the HEADstrong foundation to increase awareness of male cancer. In doing so, the team was among the top five in the country in raising money for the cause and Whipple took great pride in his team’s image.
“We are a new sport and the largest sport on campus so we are always aware of keeping a strong image in the community,” he said.
Everything looks as if this year will be the best yet for the relatively young men’s lacrosse program. With a fantastic balance of a great attack and strong defense at his disposal, Whipple should be able to lead his team to a conference title and subsequent tournament bid. The team officially starts the 2014 season on the road in North Carolina on Feb. 8 and the first home game will be against New York Tech on Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14.
Marcus Mitchell can be reached at marcus.mitchell@spartans.ut.edu