The NC State men’s lacrosse club is preparing for lots of competition this spring, with plenty of energy and potential. With one win already under its belt against Charleston, it is currently preparing for a long season with plenty of tough competition.
Last year, the Wolfpack went 6-7 in the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC). It has not seen a playoff run since 2016, when the Pack won its division. However, head coach Chris Demarest plans to accomplish that this year.
“We’d like to make playoffs, that’s the ultimate goal,” Demarest said. “There’s a ton of talent, one of the most talented teams I’ve coached … but it’s how they work together.”
Working together is crucial in lacrosse, ensuring that all 10 players on the field understand what is going on. It especially helps in transition and keeping the ball on offense.
Demarest believes the solid defense from last year will continue to be one of the staples of this team. Junior defenseman Drew Balsbough believes the team has the potential to keep that physicality on defense.
“We’re going to try to keep the defense as strong as it was last year,” Balsbough said. “We’re going to try to improve our offensive game and get more points on the board.”
Within the SELC, the Pack is a part of the Northeast division, which also includes Clemson, East Carolina and South Carolina. In order to get into the playoffs, it will need to beat these teams in the standings.
Clemson is a tough competitor and did slightly better than the Pack last year. The Tigers finished with a 10-6 record and beat NC State last year.
However, that was last year’s team, and Demarest now coaches a team with mostly new members. He plans to use this new talent to push for the playoffs.
“We have a lot of new members on the team,” Demarest said. “We only have 10 returners out of 29. We definitely have a lot of new talented players.”
Last year, South Carolina dominated its way to a 21-2 record and won the national championships. The Gamecocks will be a very tough opponent for the Pack, who will play them in Columbia on March 1.
One of the new players for the Pack is freshman long-stick midfielder Ari Goulder. So far, he’s enjoyed playing on a D-I lacrosse team, and looks forward to playing some very tough opponents.
“I think it’s going to be a fun season where we play hard, play fast and play some guys that I’ve never played against,” Goulder said. “I’ll get better at playing those fast middies as they’re going downhill and dodging.”
In its first game against Charleston, the Pack won easily with a 24-4 score, highlighted by a four-goal performance by junior attackman Jeff Palombella. Many of the players got action as well, with many of them scoring one or two of the 24 total goals.
One of the things not discussed by the team was the faceoffs. From the three faceoff specialists, they gathered 21 faceoff wins out of 31. This shows that the team is already working together and competing in the middle of the lines.
NC State’s next game will be at Elon on Feb. 9, giving the Pack plenty of time to work out any problems discovered in real gameplay.
2020 Men’s Lacrosse Home Schedule: Method Road Fields
-Feb. 22 against Temple
-Mar. 18 against Buffalo
-Mar. 29 against George Washington
-Apr. 4 against Clemson
-Apr. 17 against East Carolina
-Regular season ends at Wake Forest on Apr. 19
