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10 1 March 6, 2015 The Guilfordian ll I I i •|{ V vi i i. T ■ I; ! i i L ' I •I- : i C PORTS o — WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM/SPORTS Women’s lax promises to surprise this season BY BEATRIZ CALDAS Staff Writer “We have a growing team,” said first-year and goalie Sarah Sedaghat. “I think we can prove people wrong and prove on our ranking. We can build up that ladder with a lot of hard work.” The Guilford College women’s lacrosse team is coming off a season that saw them go 12—7 overall and 8—2 in conference, falling just short of an Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament title as runner-ups. The women, however, believe their preseason ranking of fifth in the ODAC this season should have been a little higher. “I think we should be fourth, but it’s a good placement because we’re a young team,” said sophomore and midfielder Demming Carlow. “We have mostly freshmen so we have to figure out our skill level.” Head coach Sarah Lamphier shares the same thought. “It was one place lower than I expected,” said Lamphier, reigning ODAC coach of the year. “I’m okay with it, but I’m not too pleased about it. “But I think it is a good place to be and it gives us that drive to push ourselves to prove that we are better than fifth.” The team suffered some key losses this past year with senior players graduating, which may be the reason why they were ranked lower than presumed. “I think it’s different this year because we lost a lot of leadership,” said junior and two-time Birst-Team All-ODAC defenseman Summer Fowler. “So the only way for us to improve is become more of a team and expect something from everybody instead of just one person.” Fowler is one of many returning talented players on the lacrosse team. She scooped up 49 ground balls, won 25 draw controls and forced 19 turnovers last year as a member of the Quaker’s defense, although she will be redshirting this season after suffering an injury last month. The women's lacrosse team practices at the Armfield Athletic Center before their first game of the season on March 2 after it was postponed due to weather. Another great asset is senior midfielder Eleanora Keene. She recorded 57 goals and seven assists and was second in the conference with 61 ground balls and 118 draw controls while forcing 25 turnovers. This led her to First-Team All- ODAC honors for the third straight season. Keene believes the group’s dynamic is indeed different, but that it can actually be a good attribute this season. “Half of our team are freshmen, and they’re all very talented,” said Keene. “I think it will be a more balanced team than last year. “We’re working on being strong everywhere, attack, defense, groundballs, assist, goals, we’ve been known to be a driving team, and we’re working on some plays.” The women have set goals to achieve by season end. “Our goals are to win some games,” said Sedaghat. “Hopefully we’ll at least come out with a winning record. A major thing is that we have fun while we’re doing it. “We want to make sure that we’re not just playing to win, but we’re also playing for the experience, to make ourselves better people.” Being focused and driven are main aspects to becoming a good lacrosse player. rWhat makes a good lacrosse player is attitude, being healthy and staying in shape, said Carlow. This includes working with the team and coming to practice with energy and intensity.” According to coach Lamphier, having the attitude to not give up and persistent hard work are the perfect match for this year’s lacrosse team. “When I’m recruiting, I look for someone who’s going to first love Guilford, and really buy into the school,” said Lamphier. “I want people who are willing to be there, supporting one another, but also willing to work hard each and every day to get better.” The Quakers were supposed to play against Greensboro College on Feb. 18 to start their 2015 season. The game was postponed due to icy conditions, so their first match will be against Mary Washington College on March 2. “People definitely underestimate us because we lost a lot of people last year, so they’re not expecting great things from us,” said Keene. “But we will be ready and I think we’ll surprise ourselves and everyone.” Men & women's basketball finish successful seasons BY VANESSA MADONNA Staff Writer Three ... two ... one and the buzzer goes off, ending another season for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Both teams excelled this year, working hard and never giving up. The men’s basketball team had a very successful season going 18-9 overall and 10-6 in conference, even amounting a six game conference-winning streak at one point in the season. The team really showed their hunger for success particularly against Roanoke with a score of 103-78, making it one of their biggest wins of the season and the first time the team has broke the 100-point plateau since 2009. It is no surprise this team was ready to fight for their wins. Backtracking to the beginning of the season, the team was ready to focus on the goals that lay ahead. “Our number one goal entering the season was to win an (Old Dominion Athletic Conference) championship (and) to be playing our best basketball in February,” said junior and Second Team All-ODAC forward Jonny Rice in an email interview. “I think we did that, showing improvements throughout the year.” The Quakers stepped up having six first-years and four sophomores playing throughout the entire season. First-year guard Jarrod Rogers contributed in just about every game the Quakers played as did sophomore guard Trever Hyatt, who maintained a free throw shooting percentage of 83 percent. Senior Matt McCarthy led the team with 16.6 points per game, 48 steals and 78 assists. These statistics earned him ODAC player of the year. “(It was a) great accomplishment being named ODAC player of the year and (having the team) make it to the semifinals,” said McCarthy in an email interview. It truly was an achievement to have so many wins and to make it as far as they did, making it one of their most successful seasons in over five years. Although the team did not achieve their main goal of winning the ODAC Tournament, their hard work and effort was on display throughout the entire basketball season. The women also had a successful season going 17-10 overall As they started playing together, things finally started to click. Stephanie Flamini, head coach and 10-6 in conference. Throughout the season, the team knew what they needed to work on to be victorious. “Their focus on game plans improved (but) with having three new people in the starting line up it took some time for them to get comfortable,” said head coach Stephanie Flamini in an email interview. “As they started playing together, things finally started to click.” As in previous years, there were a lot of talented young players. Senior guard Brittany Drew ended the season with 29 steals had 60 assists, while averaging 9.4 points per game, earning her a Second-Team All-ODAC recognition. Senior forward Anais Weatherly also earned Second Team All- ODAC honors, averaging close to a double-double with 14.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. First-year guard Lauren Ramsey and sophomore forward Heaven Walters were both big contributors as young players as the team prepares to build for next season. Despite having many strong players and an overall winning record, the team did have their ups and downs throughout the season. “Our weaknesses were, at times, focus and being tough mentally when other teams rattled us,” said Flamini. In order to make a run in the tournament they needed to work around this weakness. They managed to do this as the team kept up their wins all the way to the ODAC tournament. The girls crushed Hollins in the first round of the ODAC Tournament, 74-28. However their season ended in the quarterfinals where they ended up losing to Wesleyan in overtime by a single point. The season may now be over, but this team is looking forward to next season. “I’m really looking forward to next season: playing with the returners and (having) the new kids coming in,” said sophomore forward Heaven Walters in an email interview. “I think we have a lot of potential to win an ODAC championship in the future.” By improving on their skills both teams have the potential to make a run for the ODAC Championship next season.
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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March 6, 2015, edition 1
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