Tag Archives: men’s lacrosse

Recap & Reflections

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The roar of our fans was deafening. Flags were flying. People were singing, dancing, and cheering at the top of their lungs.

It was a celebration of celebrations.

No one would have ever known we just lost.

The men’s team lost 5-15 to the English team. But no one cared. We were so proud of the men for making it to the European Finals that we may have well won. We cheered long after the English fans grew weary of us drowning them out, causing them to grow silent and stare enviously at our party. We kept celebrating until the men got their medals and jumped into the stands to sing and dance with us. And the celebration continued all night long.

I still get goosebumps thinking about it. I felt part of something much bigger, swept up in the excitement and euphoria of Ireland lacrosse. Our pride and energy caused us to win the title of “Best Supporters” of the European Championships. Not a gold medal, but we will take it!

It has been three weeks since the final game. I promised myself to post updates every day, but the days blended together, making the championships feel like an alternate reality.

My knee is a daily reminder that the championships were not so long ago. I hyper-extended it in our game against Sweden, side-lining me for our final rematch against the Netherlands. Convinced it was a MCL tear, I chastised myself daily for babying my knee and limping about. I learned two days ago that I fractured my tibial plateau in the impact, which is why I was still in such pain when walking. No surgery, but I’m on crutches for the next three months. Quite a souvenir! However, I took so much more away from the experience than an injured knee…

I made great friends from all over the globe. I played midfield for the first time and fell in love with the ability to play both sides of the field. I loved being part of a team, especially a team that represents Ireland with such fierce pride. I learned to be gentle with myself when I’m injured, as I would be to others in that same situation. I experienced true camaraderie between the men’s and women’s teams that was unparalleled by any other team at the tournament or any other team I’ve been part of. I learned how to be a better coach by being a player again.

Our team did not end the tournament as we hoped. We tied one game and lost our last two games by one goal. The difference between 5th and 8th place. While it was disappointing to end in 8th place, we grew a lot as a team during our trip together. We all took away something different from the trip, but we will always share our time as the 2012 Ireland European Championship team.

I’m not sure what the future holds for me. I have to focus on healing my knee so I can get back to coaching full-time and training for our October trials. I don’t know if I will be ready for tryouts, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I can’t rush my bones to heal, though I wish that I could.

I know our 2012 Ireland team will never be the same again. I hope I’m part of the team, but we shall see. Either way, I’m honored to have been part of this team and to have had this incredible experience. Thank you to all the people who supported me. I am so appreciative for every text, post, email, call, and hug that I received.

Hope to see you in the 2013 World Cup. GO IRELAND!

Some fun pics…

Finishing Strong!

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Day 7, Women’s: Ireland vs. Sweden, L 14-13, Double Overtime

Men: Ireland vs. Sweden, Semi-Final, W 13-8…On to the FINALS vs. England

“That’s what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we lose, how we’ve changed because of it, and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning.”   – Richard Bach

Losing a close game always feels much more devastating than getting blown out by a team. Especially if you knew that you were the better team. We were in it today until the final whistle, two overtimes later.

The sun beat down on us, zapping any lingering reserves of energy we had stored. Exhaustion was etched into every face. Sweat dripped generously from our brows. Bruised and tired, we fought until the end when we lost in sudden death.

At this stage of the tournament, so much comes down to legs. We were low on subs to begin with and getting into a footrace with two speedy Sweeds was out of the question today. In spite of everything, many people stepped up ad played their hearts out. Devon, our resident race horse, ran up and down the field like a gazelle, while I felt like an elephant with legs like lead.

Ironically, my leg feels the exact opposite now. More like jello. I went down early in the second half with what appears to be a MCL sprain from hyper-extending it. I went for an interception and a girl fell into me, causing my knee to go in an unnatural direction. I tried to come back into the game, but my knee gives out when I try to pivot, causing waves of nausea and pain. Hopefully it is just a sprain, but I will know more once the swelling goes down.

As a player, the tournament is over for me. As an avid Ireland supporter, I am getting into rare form. I’m disappointed about my knee because we face the Netherlands tomorrow, and I would like nothing more than to personally avenge our bogus tie with them. However, I will be talking it up on the sidelines as we vie for seventh place.

This is not the path that we had hoped for heading into the tournament. Obviously, we would like to be competing for a medal. Gold, preferably. However, we learned a great deal, came together as a team without much team training whereas every other team has been practicing for months, and we improved every match. Unfortunately, we didn’t win it all, but who knows what the future holds? This team is scrappy, athletic, and determined. A good combination for success.

Tomorrow is our last day together as a team. After this we will go our separate ways, always sharing the bond of the 2012 Euros. I can’t quite believe it is already over. In some ways it feels like we’ve been here forever, and others, like we’ve just begun. This team will change with some people leaving and some new ones coming. But tomorrow we will celebrate together. Even though we didn’t win a medal, we came a long way as a team. We have a lot to be proud of. And this is not the last you will hear of Ireland lacrosse.

Speaking of…THE MEN’S TEAM ARE IN THE FINALS TOMORROW! They take on England at 7 pm tomorrow night. It is so exciting for our program, and I am ecstatic for them. They are a great group of guys who were not anticipated to take the tournament by storm. Don’t sleep on the Irish! Our team will be there in full effect, cheering, screaming, singing, and waving our flag. The guys have supported us in a similar way for most of our matches, and it really makes a difference. There’s nothing quite like being on the pitch and hearing lots of people screaming your name and cheering you on. We will bring our A game for their game.

No matter what, the men’s team is doing Ireland proud. It’s great for our program and a testament to how hard the guys have worked. They played England during the tournament and lost by four. Small potatoes. We can do it. GO FOR THE GOLD, IRELAND!!! We believe in YOU!

Playing as a Team

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Day 5: Ireland vs. Switzerland, W 20-5

Solid win over Switzerland. It was not our prettiest game, but we were still able to pull out twenty goals from many different shooters. My roommate Meabh, #7, and Aoife, #11, both scored their first international goals, and Aisling, #10, was tallying up the assists. I nearly went nuts when Meabh scored. I was out at the time, but otherwise I would be caught on film jumping all over the place.

With Aoife and Meabh celebrating their first international goals! Awesome job!

Vanessa, Caroline, and I all had four goals on the day and hope to repeat that trend again today against Wales. With the draw against the Netherlands, we were hoping that our goal differential would be better, placing us in third going into the Quarterfinals. Germany only beat the Netherlands by one, so we move on to take on the reigning European Champions today at 5 pm. More to come about that.

We had a rocky start to the game yesterday, our mood matching the overcast day. Luckily, we picked it up with some key saves by Amy in net and found more of a rhythm on attack. The refs are very conservative with calls, so we have had to be really disciplined when it comes to just about everything. Checking is pretty much out of the picture unless you want to end up four meters behind with annoyed coaches on the sidelines.

This check against England wasn’t called, but I am opting for body position from here on out.

The photographers are slacking on posting photos from our last three games. I hope that they put some up soon, so you can see us in action. Hopefully they will at least post some pictures from the men’s Quarterfinals against Germany. The men lost to Germany in regular play by one goal in triple overtime. Yesterday, they came out with fire, putting Germany on their heels and scoring relentlessly. The took the win and my voice. I was screaming and singing so loudly that my throat is raw. Our team supported them in full effect, including using a drum, flag, and even some face paint. That’s how we roll.

Getting ready to crush Germany!

Random fan celebrating the victory!

After the game, we came back to the hotel to prepare for our big game today. Luckily we have until 5 pm to prepare to be giant killers. The men’s game yesterday reminded us how heart, determination, and fire can be the perfect ingredients for success.

Wales is an excellent team. So are we. We just need to put sixty minutes of excellent play together and leave everything on the field. Then, no matter what happens, we will be proud of the outcome.

While I’m staying positive mentally, my body is betraying my hidden nerves. My stomach is all over the place and my dreams were filled with lacrosse. We need to play with the same defensive composure that we did against the Netherlands with the attacking prowess as we had against Austria and Switzerland.

I was honored to get the “player of the game” for marking out the Netherlands best player. Shifting to straight defense felt like coming home in a weird way since I played that for most of my career. However, I have to admit that notching some goals has been really fun as well. I can see how attackers love finding the back of the net. So far Laurie, Vanessa, Katelin and I have received player of the game, though there are many other players who are extremely deserving as well. Caroline and Devon both being prime examples for their play all over the field.

My hope for today is that the entire team receives the “player of the game” honor. Meaning we all play so well that it would be impossible to select an individual. It starts with the draw. Sixty minutes. Composure. Determination. Heart. And the will to win.

LET’S GO IRELAND!