During the 2009 Lock Haven Lacrosse season, we had one goal in mind, to make it to the NCAA Division II final four. All season we would ask ourselves “where do we want to be on May 16th and 17th?” The answer was easy; it was getting there that was harder. We trained with the constant reminder that we wanted to make it to the NCAA final four and show everyone what we were made of. We pushed ourselves and each other from day one because we knew we could make it, we knew it would take that title.
On May 16th, we were there. We had made it to the final four. It was quite the experience just to be there and experience the spotlight. May 16th was the semi finals where we played Limestone University for a spot in the final game. We won by 1 with only seconds left in the game. Knowing we had conquered Limestone after being defeated by them over Spring Break earlier that year, was an amazing feeling. We felt unstoppable.
After making it this far, the only thing left was the championship round against Adelphi University. Unfortunately, we were not ready to go this far. All season we asked each other where we wanted to be and we knew we wanted to get that far, but we did not prepare ourselves for what we would do once we got there. We held Adelphi for the first 15 minutes and then after that they just took it to us. The lack of preparation and nerves mixed together made us not play our game. We could of taken them, but we only thought of getting there, we did not think of the next step…winning it all.
This year, we have the constant reminder of the 2nd place trophy that is sitting in my coach’s office. Knowing we made it as far as we did last year, gives us the confidence to make it there again. We also have the knowledge that getting there is only the beginning, it’s what you do when you are there that really matters.
