The men's lacrosse team hit mauled St. Joe's, 18-4, in Philadelphia on Saturday, and Parker Brown '12 helped lead the Bears' attack with two goals and two assists. Here is how it went down from his perspective.
As my road-trip roommate and personal life counselor Rob Schlesinger '12 sat down next to me on the bus last Friday, with his renowned cowboy boots and BoSox hat in tow, a sense of relief came over me as we pulled away from the Ratty. Long bus trips, like the one we took last Friday to St. Joe's that eclipsed five hours, provide me and my teammates ample opportunity to zone out, watch movies, sleep, Facebook creep and, most importantly, an excuse not to work because it makes us "car sick" (unless, of course, you actually have work due, or you are a machine a.k.a. Jason Pohanka '11). By the time we checked into our hotel at 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning, my mind was cleared of all the stress from last week and focused on our next opponent: the Hawks of St. Joseph's.
After a rejuvenating sleep and exceptional breakfast from the Crowne Plaza Hotel thanks to the efforts of Assistant Coach Errol Wilson (or at least Bob and I felt good — our third roommate, Sam "Caviezel" Ford '13 was appointed the fold-out cot even though he is 6'4" and I am 5'9" — sorry Sam), our team took the field with a sense of urgency and purpose that overwhelmed our young opponent. In the third game of the season, the Brown men's lacrosse team improved to 2-1 in a convincing 18-4 victory over St. Joe's on Saturday afternoon. Facing torrential downpours from the opening face-off, our team embraced Coach Tiffany's message to squeeze these opportunities to play when it is easy to make excuses. Yeah, man.
The Bears jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter thanks to a very balanced offense, despite the river of water flowing in front of our sideline. Eleven different Bears scored during the game, including Shane McHugh '13, Matt Shakespeare '10, Johnny DePeters '13, and Dan O'Brien '12, who each scored their first career goal. With soggy socks and our newly promoted Riddell helmets, the Bears moved the ball with ease around the St. Joe's zone defense and finished the first quarter leading, 9-1.
The Brown defense, when the ball managed to get onto our defensive side of the field, swarmed the St. Joe's offense, putting the ball on the ground and clearing the ball efficiently. Wills Curley '13 got some hometown love as he replaced Matt Chriss '11 in the second half and played solid in his first Division I action. The defense simply overwhelmed St. Joe's, and I wish I could make more shout-outs, but what more is there to say? One goal allowed in the first, two in the second, one in the third and no goals allowed in the fourth quarter — I think it speaks for itself.
Like Coach Tiffany told us at the beginning of the day, Saturday was less of a test of our lacrosse ability as it was a test of our character. We could either slip by St. Joe's and go home somewhat satisfied, or come out flying and make a statement in the first quarter. I think we did the latter, and the bus ride home from St. Joe's was full of good vibes, good energy.
Next Saturday is a bigger test: our Ivy opener at Harvard. 3 p.m., Harvard Stadium. Get some.
— Parker Brown '12
