Three games into its inaugural season the University of Indianapolis men’s lacrosse team has a perfect 3-0 record. The team defeated Shorter University 17-6 on Saturday, March 5. This was their first time at Key Stadium.
The team is willing to learn and work hard said Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Greg Stocks. He said he believes that is the reason the team has been successful.
Freshman midfield Eric Lounds said he and his teammates are out to prove that they will continue to be successful.
“I think coming in, some people doubted us and dogged on us a little bit, like the first couple of months of school. But after they see we have won [three] games, like [I hope] they realize we came here for business, and we know what we’re doing,” Lounds said.
The Greyhounds had seven men score in the win with freshman attack Parker Kump leading the group, Kump had five goals. Freshmen midfield Luke Allen had four goals and attack Shawn Kimble added three. Also scoring was freshmen attacks Tyler Johnston and Matthew Johnson and midfields Joseph Szymkowicz and James Smith.
UIndy outshot Shorter 44-41 and won 16 faceoffs compared to Shorter’s 11.
Freshman goalkeeper Jarod Kimble has been in goal for all three of the Hounds wins, and has 24 saves on the season, allowing seven goals on average.
The Hounds’ second win of the season was more than 550 miles away in Franklin Springs, Ga. at Emmanuel College. UIndy beat EC 16-6. Johnston led with four goals. Johnson and Johnston had eight shots apiece, totaling 16 of the team’s 42 shots. UIndy outshot the Lions 42-14.
“We played well enough to win,” Stocks said. “I think there was a lot of things that we need to do a lot better for these upcoming games for us to be successful. But it was a long trip, and we got done what we needed to get done for the W and made the trip home.”
The Greyhounds opened their inaugural season on the road on Feb. 20 in North Carolina. The first win of the season meant the first men’s lacrosse goal in UIndy history. At 10:02 in the first quarter, Lounds found the back of the net to tie the game 1-1 against Mars Hill College, the defending South Atlantic Conference champions.
“It was a pretty honorable and breath taking moment,” Lounds said. “It just happened so fast, I don’t really know how to describe it. It was a great moment…. Coach didn’t think I would be the one scoring it.”
“My money wouldn’t have been on [him], so it was nice to see it,” Stocks said.
The final score was 12-9 UIndy.
The buildup to the first game began when the players committed to UIndy, and the hard work started when they arrived on campus. School started in August, and after seven months of buildup, the team took the field for the first time.
“I think lacrosse—with it being one of the sports that end the school year—there is a lot of work that goes into it throughout the school year. So there is kind of [a] build[up] of excitement throughout the year,” Stocks said. “Then finally in February, it kind of releases. And on top of that, it was all of their first college game [except for our four upperclassmen.] So there was quite a bit of excitement within the team, throughout warmups and in the locker room before the game. And it kind of continued on into the game, which I think helped lead us to the win [against Mars Hill.]”
The men’s next game will be against Wheeling Jesuit University on March 12 at 1 p.m. This will be the team’s first conference game of the year.
