In 2008, Tiger Woods won his last major championship on the PGA Tour, Kevin Durant was named NBA Rookie of the Year as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics and Central’s Lacrosse Club made its last playoff appearance.

The eight-year playoff drought has finally come to an end for the club, as its members prepare for their first taste of the postseason as a Wildcat.

“We’re showing that we’re coming back to be a force to be reckoned with,” said club president Cooper Hayes, a junior midfielder. “And that we are still here to be something, and we aren’t some rec league team.”

The team had only won seven games over the last four years. First-year head coach Will Houck, former club president, played on the team through those seasons.

“I was here during the dark years, so to speak,” Houck said. “The amount of winning we’ve had in the last nine months has eclipsed what I did in four years, so that right there is phenomenal.”

Including their Fall season and forfeits from other teams in the spring, the Wildcats have won 11 of their 18 games this school year.

Houck said that the improvement stems from more work being put in by players this year and getting more experienced newcomers to join the team.

“Before a lot of guys would be grabbing a stick for the first time,” Houck said.

A Little Motivation

Central was picked to finish tied for last in the conference this year by its competitors.

“It was just kinda a huge slap in the face to be put down at the bottom,” Hayes said.

The poll was taken in September, but the results weren’t released until after the Fall season, where Central had a stronger showing than teams picked in front of them.

Since the team found out the results, the team has kept that in the back of its mind.

“Definitely a motivator for us to prove everyone wrong,” said Colter Clinch, junior attacker. The former Central football player leads the team in scoring with 4.1 points per game.

Tournament Time

The team earned the third-seed in the North Region of the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League. It faces Western Oregon University, the second-seed in the South Region, in the first round of the six-team three-day playoff tournament, which is hosted by Boise State University.

Western Oregon played the South Region champion, Southern Oregon University, over the weekend, while the Wildcats had the weekend off to rest.

“Having games every single weekend through the season, we get beat up. It’s a very physical sport,” Houck said. “My only reservation is that it gives us one week away from competition, which I don’t like.”

The winner of that game will go on to face the one-seed from their respective region.

Houck admitted that the spring season has been a little up and down for the team, but they are still where they want to be.

“There was definitely some games where we definitely shot ourselves in the foot and could’ve won, but didn’t,” Houck said. “But we still put ourselves in a good enough position to make playoffs.”

Building a New Image

The Lacrosse Club entered this year on probation due to an incident from the final game of last season.

A Central staff member alleged the team of drinking on the field after the game, which according to Houck wasn’t proven, but action was still taken against the team.

“I didn’t think it happened, but [the school] had a staff member who claimed they saw it,” Houck said. “They still felt it was necessary because there was an acquisition… that’s why we didn’t get the program shut down or anything, because there wasn’t any solid proof, but it’s one of those things that if it even gets brought up, they have to take action. You can’t blame them for that.”

While Houck understands the action taken on the team, he hopes that the probation will be lifted at the end of this year, and said the club’s relationship with Central’s club sports head, Corey Sinclair, is still strong.

“He’s got faith in us that we can provide a clean environment and a good environment for these guys,” Houck said.