The UW-Platteville Lacrosse Club pushed forward with another set of wins after a weekend tournament in La Crosse April 4.

The men took on powerhouse UW-River Falls to start the weekend, but came up short with a 1-5 loss to the Falcons.

“They’re have always been a rival of us,” Matthew Mikulecky, junior building construction management major, said. “They’re always solid; last year wetook them to overtime both times we played.”

Defense proved to be an issue for the guys during the first game, as most of the game became a defensive game for UW-P.

“The defense gets tired after five minutes, with only a thirty second or minute break when we got to offense. If we can possess more and give them a break it will help,” Mikulecky said.

The guys rallied together to pull off a win against UW-Stout. Coming out strong from the start helped keep the guys mind on a win.

“We knew if we wanted to stay competitive in the conference we needed the win,” Mikulecky said.

“After the first loss to River Falls, a lot of people were down but everyone regrouped quickly and we started off strong against Stout,” Brent Beveroth, junior business construction management major, said.

The speed of lacrosse can sometimes be daunting to new players, Beveroth said. In a matter of minutes, multiple goals can be put in if the timing is right.

The only way to counteract is to play hard defense, and push strong against the opponent.

The rookie players proved essential in keeping momentum during the second game on Saturday. The team stepped up with power plays that led to crucial goals for a tough victory in overtime. After trailing the Blue Devils in the first half, the guys pulled ahead to keep them in contention.

“We managed to tie it up and played strong defense,” Beveroth said. “In overtime all it took was a good screen and shot by Caleb to secure the victory.”

Veteran player Caleb Wright, put in the winning shot within minutes of starting overtime play for a 7-6 victory over Stout.

The third game against Gustava was forfeited, giving the guys another victory and allowing rookie players scrimmage time to get some playing time. The experience will benefit the team for future games.

“Some people may have went into the weekend with the mindset that we’d have some easy victories, but the division’s very competitive and there won’t be any sure wins from here on out,” Beveroth said. “We need to stay focused and not look too far ahead to other teams.”

The guys are currently ranked 11th out of 29 teams, with a 4-1 record. They are second within their bracket, needing to finish first in order to continue in the A-Bracket of the Great Lakes Lacrosse League Tournament.