Alumni Weekend in Ada

    A weekend that all Ohio Northern lacrosse players look forward to is alumni weekend. This weekend consists of the alumni game, golfing, and lots of nightly activities. But the main reason this weekend excites me is I get to see my already graduated friends. Most live on the East Coast in Maryland, Virginia, or New York, so it is a bit of a trek to get here. The first event of the weekend is always the game, which occurred on Friday Night. 

    Now our program operates a little differently in the fact that we do not scrimmage or play any other teams in the offseason. Instead, our coach opts to bring in the alumni for a competitive match. Since the program is relatively new, the oldest alumni are only six years graduated, typically making it a close match.  Over the years, the alumni have proven to be a tough opponent, usually keeping the score within 3-4 goals. This year felt different, especially watching from the outside as well as our massive 26-person graduation class last year. The determining factor was whether the incoming freshmen were up to the task of taking on bigger and more experienced players. The game started out a blowout with the current team going up 4-0 in the first quarter. But as the game wore on, the alumni crawled their way back in it to make it a three-goal game with around five minutes left. Our theory was that the alcohol had begun to wear off for the alumni who chose to attend the tailgate before the game. The current team would end up prevailing and winning 15-11. 

    The next competitive event of the weekend took place on Sunday Morning as our semi-annual golf tournament commenced. We tried a new format this year with foursomes, drafted by captains, opposed to the usual twosomes. We drafted our team on Saturday night, as we wanted to build some team chemistry before the outing the next day. We liked our team's chances but did not truly know who had the upper hand as the teams were fairly even. We ended up winning by four strokes to the next team, led by my teammate Luke's hole-out eagle on the ninth hole. 

    After the long weekend had come and went, our house was exhausted. My Sunday afternoon consisted exclusively of rotting on the couch, watching my favorite football team lose in overtime. Although it was a very fun weekend, it had taken a toll on my body, especially my back, possibly due to swinging a bit too hard. All this worth it for the fun weekend and memories created.