September 19, 2009

BUENA VISTA, Va. The SVU Knights scrimmaged the Radford Univeristy Men's Lacrosse team on Saturday. They participated in 2 games, back to back on the day. The Knights faired well, loosing game one 9-2 but coming back strong in game 2 ending in a 6-6 tie.

"We are a very young team this year, with a ton of talent. Playing mostly frehsman won't hurt us very much because of the level of play those players are at" said Coach Chad Mahaffey. "They did however need to see how much faster, harder hitting, and mental the collegiate game is compared to the high school game."

The Knights used game one to show these aspects to the young team. It was also used to show the team how much more work is needed to compete at a level that will be expected of them come February.

"They (the SVU Knights Lacrosse team) just needed a wake up call. They have been working hard, but they needed to understand that there needs to be more of an effort. If we can the guys to recognize this now, in September, we are going to be in a very good position come January to start our season off the right way," said Mahaffey.

The Knights were frustrated in the first game as the Radford men's team scored easily on the make-shift Knights. With players missing the team was forced to play players in positions that they will not be in come January. Adam Reeves, a returning defenseman from last year, stepped into goal for the Knights. Logan Murray, a returning middie also stepped into a foreign role, weilding a long pole and playing defense for the Knights on the afternoon. The transition from practice was a slow one, but the Knights soon turned it around, scoring 2 goals late in the 4th quarter of game one.

Game two looked like a new team as the Knights came out and improved in all aspects of the game. The defense stepped up as Logan Murray went down with a quad injury. John DeAngelis switched from his spot at attack, to fill in for the injured Murray. Adam came up big in the 2nd game as well, limiting the Radford offense to only 6 goals. The offense came alive as well for the Knights, netting 6 goals against a tough and physical Radford defense.

"I think this weekend was a great start for us. We already are ahead of where our team was last year," said Coach Mahaffey. "We are very encouraged at many of the things we saw this afternoon. We have a lot to work on and improve. Radford did a great job in all aspects of the game and made it very obvious for us the area's we need to improve on. We take these games with a grain of salt. We don't have our full team out here yet. Are we excited? Very much so. Are we excited to get better? Absolutely. It will be a fun year. We are very encouraged and excited to continue improving and see where we are come January, and the start of our season."

The Knights are in action again on Halloween day, Oct. 31st at the King of the Mountain tournament at Appalachian State.