The UM men’s lacrosse team scrimmages at Dornblaser Field Thursday afternoon. The team will host Gonzaga University on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Ben Coulter/Montana Kaimin)

Winless lacrosse hopes new attitude generates victories

by Tyson Alger | March 19, 2010 | Montana Kaimin

With the first five of Montana’s 10 regular season games on the road, the inexperienced Griz lacrosse team has struggled through five losses, including a tough-to-swallow 27–3 loss at the hands of Brigham Young last weekend.

But as the second half of the season opens up, the Griz finally make an appearance at home this Saturday against Gonzaga, and with a new look, said head coach Tucker Sargent. 

“The two teams we played this last weekend were very good,” Sargent said of BYU and the University of Utah, which beat the Griz 25–8 on Friday. “It’s not that we lost, but how badly we lost and the way that we lost. A lot of it was a lack of effort. We got to try and make it more competitive while holding players more accountable.” 

Both BYU and Utah are teams in the top 25 of the National Club Lacrosse League. 

This year, the Grizzlies field a team that is comprised of mostly new players and Sargent said the tough opening stretch of the schedule has prohibited his young team from getting comfortable. 

“People just don’t look confident out there,” he said. “They’re playing like they’re afraid to make mistakes and that just causes more.”

Junior defenseman Henry Sulzbacher said the team is looking to transition toward better play in the second half of the year.

“We’re looking at the rest of our season as a new season,” Sulzbacher said. “We had just been going through the motions. I think that everyone on the team is looking to step up this week.”

Sophomore midfielder Kent Davis expressed a similar sentiment.

“After the BYU game everybody kind of got pissed off,” Davis said. “At practice this week people have been pushing harder and trying to get pumped for this weekend.”

The weekend brings Gonzaga, a conference opponent that comes to Missoula with a 2–1 record.

Although Montana is only halfway through its season and sitting with a 0–5 record, Sulzbacher views this Gonzaga game with urgency. 

“Any athlete needs to see a game as winnable. And Gonzaga is a more realistic victory,” Sulzbacher said. “It really is a must-win for us if we want to get to the playoffs. We have to take every opponent as seriously as possible.

“Hopefully we’ll get some more confidence and play with a little chip on our shoulder,” Sargent added. 

That swagger, Davis hopes, would translate to a little more offense for the Griz.

During the last couple of weeks, Davis said, the Grizzlies have played on their heels with the ball in their own zone. 

He added that on the rare occasion the Griz attacked, it proved lucrative.

“Every time we would get in their zone, we would either get a goal or a decent look,” Davis said. “We just have to lock down on defense from now on in order to get those looks.” 

And if Montana can button down and get those looks, Davis believes the Griz, with their second-half attitude, will hopefully come out with an elusive first victory. 

“We really would like to start this half off with a ‘W’ up on the board,” Davis said. “We really deserve a win by now.”

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