Four-game roadtrip provides challenge

Six a.m., the sun has barely risen, yet there they are, warming up on four miles of jogging, rooting out the players with true dedication to the sport of lacrosse. \nThis year's IU men's lacrosse team is relatively young and inexperienced, yet they do not look at this aspect as a flaw.\n"We have a lot of young players beginning to step up, and they're beginning to find the back of the goal. I feel really confident," team president Tom Fell said.\nPartly due to its youth, the lacrosse campaign has had a bit of shaky start at 3-4, but the team is still pleased with the effort so far. While the record does not look so great, three of its four losses have been by three points or less, including a 7-8 overtime heartbreaker against Emory early in the year. Luckily, along with effort comes experience and the experience is beginning to show.\n"Each game we're getting better and stronger and we try to look at the start of our season as a primer," associate president Willy Knight said.\nThese first six games have also had their fair share of bright spots. The team's defense is suffocating, and is looked upon as the strong point so far. Along with their defensive prowess, they are not left without offensive weapons as well. One of these weapons is sophomore attacker Jon Hatton who has amassed 29 points in only five games along with sophomore midfielder Jim Derrick's 15.\nWhile the team is confident in their abilities, they are also taking a realistic look at the season ahead.\n"From the beginning of the year, we've decided that we're just going to take it one game at a time," Fell said.\nLong term goals are also very grounded, beginning with getting into the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Athletic Association tournament at the end of the year. Of course, their goals do not stop there as they want to take this tournament and advance into Nationals.\nLast Saturday, the team obtained its third win of the season by overcoming Washington University 9-8. While the close home win adds confidence to the team, a challenge lies on its horizon.\nFriday, the team begins a difficult three-game road trip that will pit them against solid Marquette, Michigan State and Western Michigan teams April 5-7. This road trip will test the team's endurance both mentally and physically. \n"We're going to have to be on the bus for six hours, seven hours and then we have to get off and play a game, and we'll get into the hotel pretty late. It's going to be tiring, and we're going to be a lot more exhausted than we normally would be (in Indiana)," junior defenseman Jon Rieger said.\nHowever, this tiring three-game stint is not the end of the Hoosiers' troubles.\nA mere three days later, the team will then head over to Urbana to take on the powerful Illinois team they have never been able to overcome. This game was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but due to weather conditions it was postponed. Despite the postponement, the importance of the game has not decreased.\n"That game will determine how the rest of the season will go, in my opinion. I think that this year, when you add into the equation that they've lost a lot of key players, our freshman and sophomore classes are much better than theirs," Fell said.\nThe team is looking ahead at its 2002 campaign with high hopes and confidence in its young squad. \n"We expect to go into every game and play competitively, and we're going to play to win," Fell said.