UW-Platteville lacrosse finished their spring season without winning a championship but gained chemistry that was lacking in the start of the season.

UW-P traveled to UW-Stout for the Great Lakes Lacrosse Tournament and, although controling both games, came up short of any title.

Photograph by Jessica Vretenar
The UW-P lacrosse club ended their spring season with a 4-4 conference record, and a 4-7 overall record. Junior Nick Bowers runs toward the goal against the Northwestern Wildcats.

The team entered the tournament fighting for the B-Bracket Championship, Nick Bower, junior civil engineering major said. The inexperience of most of team saw the season as rebuilding, which landed them in that position.

“Both offense and defense played great both games, we just couldn’t capitalize when it mattered most,” Brent Beveroth, junior business construction management major said. “We just didn’t make the shots that we needed.”

UW-P faced off against Northern Illinois University and pulled ahead quickly, continuing to control for most of the game.

“We came out with great intensity. We held the ball on offense and had some great fast breaks and put the ball in the back of the net,” Jordan Hass, sophomore criminal justice major, said.

After three solid quarters, the team wore down while the Huskies pushed forward to finish the Pioneers 7-6. NIU came in with a quick goal before the final whistle that sealed the fate for the team.

“We just couldn’t keep up our fast pace and the other team just started creeping back into the game with steady goals, and with that our team got down on themselves which you cannot do in lacrosse,” Hass said.

Looking to comeback in the second game, UW-P fired up against Northwestern University, but seemed to suffer the same fate as the first game.

“We played with tons of intensity and fire for three quarters, but I think we just lost a little of that later in the game when we got tired,” Beveroth said.

UW-P suffered from several penalties, which resulted in the Pioneers playing a man down multiple times throughout the game. The Pioneers pushed forward to tie up the game to Northwestern into overtime.

“Jake Carlson broke the 4-4 tie with about a minute left and then they came down and scored to tie the game and put it into overtime,” Mike Shea, building construction management, said. “I think that just shows how close we have been all year.”

Northwestern pounded a shot into the Pioneers’ net, ending the game 5-4. Overall, UW-P ended the season with a 4-4 conference record, and a 4-7 overall record.

“The tournament didn’t go as we all hoped, because we really wanted to end the year as strong as possible. We did end our year at our strong point though,” Eric Miller, freshman engineering major, said. “If we can keep that going strong for next year we will be a force.”

Looking ahead to Fall Ball, the Pioneers will work on conditioning to keep their momentum strong the entire game, Hass said. Losing only two players will help the team build off of what they have started this season.

“We are losing two very important seniors this year, Andy Woodman and Caleb Wright. They have been and will be a big part of our team’s success,” Shea said.“They provided a love and knowledge of the game that we are going to miss. It will be very tough to replace them.”

Many of the newer players stepped up to score their first goals throughout the season, Bower said. Next season will focus on building off of the groundwork laid down from this season.

“If the younger guys keep working at their stick skills and just the fundamentals of the game then we can progress a lot as a club next fall and winter to prep for the spring,” Beveroth said.

The team will wrap up the season with an alumni game on May 1 at 8pm in the Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.