Albertus Lacrosse Fights Hard in Tough Loss to Nyack

The Falcons match on Friday presented another difficult game in a tough season overall for the inexperienced team.

Despite the series of difficult games that this new division represents for Albertus, they continue to come out and play hard with their heads held high.  The goal this season is still to learn the game and improve the program while getting as many wins as possible.  Though they continue to work hard to improve as the season progresses, the discrepancy in experience and the depth of their roster compared to that of their opponents has left them with a record of 1-8 after Friday's loss.

By the end of the first, Nyack had four, the second seven, the third thirteen, and the fourth fourteen.  The strongest aspect of the Albertus game was the defensive presence.  The weakest was their ability to hold onto the ball on offense and pass effectively.  The majority of their difficulties came from the scrappy defense displayed by the  Falcons more experienced opponent.  The fact that Nyack was in control of the ball for such a significant portion of the game yet only scored as much as they did is a testament to just how solid the Falcon defense truly was.

Assisting this defense was #5 Dan Palazzo's effective performance as goalie.  His, and the defensive performance of the team overall, would have been greatly aided by a stronger offensive showing.  By controlling the ball more on offense the Falcons would necessarily reduce the number of shot attempts allowed on their goal while increasing their own.  Even if they are not scoring on those shot attempts, the importance of maintaining possession by getting open, passing accurately and in a timely manner for minimizing the score of their opponents cannot be overlooked.

As they continue to practice the fundamental aspects of team lacrosse, the Falcons will be able to give their opponents a much more competitive game.  For the young and inexperienced Falcons, playing against such larger schools with feeder teams has been tough.  As they continue to compete in this division, the importance of growing interest in the program is essential for future years.  

According to Coach Widmere, "They work hard, but the other teams have more experienced starters.  Even most of our seniors are first time starters.  If we can get a couple more kids, we can start a JV team."  

Such a system with a feeder team would give the varsity a much better chance at succeeding in the highly competitive division.  The Falcons still have many games ahead this season.  While a number of these look to be reach games, there will be some coming up that the Falcons have a good shot at winning.