There is nowhere to go but up for the Laurentian Voyageurs field lacrosse crew. At least they now have a few building blocks to work with, moving forward.
One of 14 entries in CUFLA (Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association), the Voyageurs struggled mightily this year, losing all ten games they contested, with none of the encounters being particularly close.
Still, L.U. freshmen Rowan Smith and Ethan Roos were selected to participate in the first ever CUFLA Rookie All-Star game earlier this month in St Catharines.
Given that both players arrived at Laurentian with far more lacrosse background than many of their new teammates, the experience of this game can only help the squad that is looking to grow under the direction of young coaches Jake Kelly and Matthew Delabbio.
"There were not a lot of our players who had played a lot of lacrosse, so I came in as a more experienced player," noted 18 year-old Rowan Smith, a first year student in Physical Education and Concurrent Education who grew up in the lacrosse hotbed that is the Six Nations region.
"It was helpful for me in developing my leadership skills, helping the guys work on their skills. If they have played a high level sport, sometimes you can tie lacrosse into their sport."
"But I think the biggest key for everyone is really catching and passing and craddling the ball," Smith added. "That's the foundation."
While Smith has background in box field and box lacrosse, he had not played the latter in the past four to five years, utilizing his first fall in Sudbury to reacquaint himself with some unique positional aspects of the outdoor game.
"The spacing is definitely something I am still getting used to, learning where to go, knowing where to put the ball on offense, when to cut and things like that," he said. "There is a lot that is the same - but the field is massive, so you do have a lot more space for running the ball up."
In fact, this is essentially the one area of the game where Smith feels that his team has the ability to begin narrowing the gap with the remaining CUFLA squads, beginning as early as next fall.
"I would say that we need a lot more ball control," he suggested. "It's hard, with a lot of the guys who haven't played before. They get the ball and look right away to pass to someone with more experience and is more confident with the ball."
"Honestly, just grab it and run," Smith continued. "We just need more possession of the ball."
That is not necessary an area where Bracebridge native and Outdoor Adventure Leadership (Physical Education) student Ethan Roos can necessarily help his team greatly - given his role as goalkeeper.
Still, there are elements of ball handling the absolutely come into play as Roos seeks to expand his field lacrosse skill-set next year after spending much of his youth with the Hunstville Hawks program.
"A big thing for me is being able to quarterback the defense, letting them know where they need to be," he said. "Being able to bring the ball out of our end successfully often starts with the goalie after a save, so you have to be aware of where everyone is."
Averaging double digit goals against - albeit in a sport that is known for high scoring affairs - one could understand that the frustration might mount on that last line of defense at L.U. - though that's not at all how Roos assesses his situation.
"They're a great group of guys so I wanted to try my best for them," he said. And in the end, all of that work could not help but to be noticed, easily the busiest young man in the Laurentian lineup, with Roos garnering the attention needed to earn his selection as an all-star - and all that came with it.
"All of the guys that were on the (rookie all-star) team were super talented," said Roos. "They were all so nice, really fun and friendly - and it was nice to face shots from all of the best young players in the league."
"It was an awesome experience."
And a nice way to finish off a tough year, to boot.
