My Last Ride has Begun

My last ride has begun, this past Saturday marks the first big milestone of my senior lacrosse season here at Ohio Northern. We played two games, the first game was against the big red of Denison university the team that was ranked number nine in the preseason rankings. The second game was against the colonels of Center college. The weather was fairly mild for this time of year in Ohio, it was a chilly twenty three degrees but it was clear and very sunny which made for a decent on field temperature and for what would turn out to be two very competitive games with some fierce competition.

This year there are a few rule changes that greatly affect the play of the game the most impact being the new eighty second shot clock that has been implemented this year. This new rule changes a few different aspects of the game. The most obvious effect this rule change has on the game is that it forces teams to create offense in a much quicker manner, teams can no longer hold the ball for extended periods of time with no intent of scoring. A less obvious impact of this rule is that it cuts the allotted time to advance the ball from the defensive side of the field to the offensive side of the field, previously thirty seconds now teams are only allowed twenty seconds.

With the rule changes both teams had to adjust, both teams stepped up to the challenge as there were not many violations of either the shot clock or failure to advance. The first game was a hard fought bout between two physical teams that showed a great amount of grit with a well played game that was close the whole game through with Denison pulling away late in the fourth quarter edging the bears by a two goal margin.

The second game featured a lot of the younger players from northern's roster which was very exciting for the older folks on the team. It showed how the team is progressing and where the future of this team lies and let me tell you it is in good hands. This team was much like the first, very physical with both players from both teams flying around the field.

A lot of good came out of these two games and it did nothing but give our team a boost in confidence and show us that the sky's the limit for this team and that no one can stop this team but those on the team.