2008 Woodie Awards
Grizzled Lacrosse Veterans Enjoy Alumni Game
Matt DeRosa Staff Reporter
Issue date: 9/22/05 Section: Sports
|
"It's great to have all the former players back on campus," Coach Tom Mariano said. "It's fun for everyone to come back and relive all of the memories they had as Pioneers."
Mariano enters his ninth season as the men's lacrosse coach at Sacred Heart University. He has helped the Pioneers develop into a solid and competitive program. They are now entering their fourth season as members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), arguably one of the top lacrosse conferences in the country.
It was a temperate afternoon while the alumni anxiously waited to take the field. They were all in high spirits to reunite and talk about past memories of years ago. It was a match up of alumni versus alumni, unlike past years when the alumni players battled against the current team at the university.
"It will be more fun having the alumni versus alumni considering the school team usually embarrasses us," said Paul Lions, a 2003 graduate from Bethpage N.Y.
There was much trash talk occurring on the sidelines, which really amused the athletes before the game.
An issue that the alumni joked about before the game was what jersey numbers alumni would be wearing.
Players jokingly started arguing with each other over what number was going to be present on their backs. Eventually the players came to an agreement and everybody was satisfied with the jersey they were wearing during the game.
"My chances versus (other alumni) are looking pretty good," said James Delmonico, a former graduate from West Islip N.Y., adding, "I'm just as out of shape as the rest of these guys, so be prepared to witness a crazy show."
There are usually 40 to 50 alumni athletes who participate in this event every year, but unfortunately only around 20 of them showed up this year.
Even with a small portion of the alumni present, it still created a friendly atmosphere. Everybody was excited to pick up what they had left behind and enjoy it all over again over the course of one day.