The Arizona men’s lacrosse team won its season opener at home over the weekend 17-6 against NAU, but the keyword for the Laxcats (1-0) is “”home.”” The team travels to Austin, Texas, tomorrow for its first and longest road trip of the season.
A tough road swing will help the Laxcats reestablish themselves as a national power, but they must also correct the lulls they had on the offensive end, which were apparent at the start of the third quarter against NAU. In Texas, Arizona will not have the benefit of a home crowd.
“”It’ll be a really good challenge for us,”” said head coach Mickey-Miles Felton. “”We’ll see how the guys can play back-to-back games, and we’ll see how controlled they can stay within the game plans.””
Arizona could not get any game film of the Lumberjacks, but preparing three game plans for three different teams will be a challenge for the Laxcats.
“”It’s going to be really hard to (game plan),”” said offensive coordinator Drew Maceranka. “”I think the guys are up for (the challenge), so it should be a good road trip.””
First up is Texas A&M on Saturday. The Aggies defeated Texas Christian University in overtime last weekend 10-9. Freshman attackman Logan Farmar scored three goals in the Aggies win and could present a tough challenge for the Arizona defense.
Arizona is 4-1 against the Aggies in the last 10 years, but Arizona has not played against the Aggies for the past two seasons, both of which Arizona finished with a losing record.
After the A&M, Arizona will play the No. 18 Texas Longhorns, who have been postponing a scrimmage game for the past week due to poor weather. By Sunday, all distractions should be behind them.
The Longhorns are one of the toughest teams Arizona will see all season, and the game will show if Arizona deserves to be considered an elite team this early in the season. It will also be a measuring stick for Arizona’s upcoming games against ranked teams, which includes a home game against No. 1 Michigan on Feb. 27.
However, it’s not the talent in Texas that concerns the Laxcats coaches but the three sucessive road games.
“”It’s going to be hard,”” Maceranka said. “”Three games in three days is going to be a lot. We’re going to have to play a lot of guys.””
Freshman attackman Graham Seamans, who scored four goals against NAU, isn’t too concerned about the back-to-back games.
“”(Our endurance) will be tested, but the coaches make up for that,”” Seamans said. “”We condition a lot, so it should be good.””
After Texas, Arizona will scrimmage Southwestern University on Monday, which, last fall, became a varsity team and began to recruit nationally.
“”I think we’re going to do good,”” Seamans said. “”We started off 17-6, and we got three games (in) Texas. We’ll come back (undefeated), hopefully.””
