After eight years without making it to the postseason the CWU Men’s Lacrosse club finally made it to the playoffs last season. On top of that, the team broke a four year slump of one-win seasons last season, finishing  with a record of 7-7.

“It was the first time we’ve been to playoffs in seven or eight years,” said Ted Trimble, captain and club president.  “It was a pretty good turnaround for the program.”

The Wildcats were eliminated last year in the first round in double-overtime, but they’re back to start this season hungrier than ever. In addition to nine returning players, nine fresh faces join the lineup this season, including eight freshmen and one transfer student.

Evan Schnitzius, who graduated last spring, was the captain for three years and is now returning as the coach.

“I think we have a really high chance of going back and repeating what we did, if not going further,” Schnitzius said. “I see the same overall strengths that we had last year in the freshman we have this year.”

In order to bring new players up to speed and give them the best chance at a successful season, the lacrosse team practices four nights a week from either 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. or 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.. Weather permitting they practice on the Alder Complex fields, but when the weather is bad they can be found in the Pavilion Fieldhouse.

“We’ve been reinforcing accountability,” Trimble said. “I know we’re a club, but showing up to practice every day and looking at them as mandatory— instead of optional— builds comradery. Everyone suffers together; everyone succeeds together.”

When weather restricts the team to the fieldhouse, they focus on specific drills to prepare for situations they might experience in games.

One of the new faces is freshman Ethan Olson, who chose to attend CWU so he could play for the lacrosse team.

“I already knew a lot of the guys here,” Olson said. “I watched a lot of the games last year and  followed them to playoffs. I wanted to be a part of that.”

The lacrosse team plays in Division II of Northern Conference of the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League. During the off-season, the league experienced some shifting of teams. One of CWU’s toughest rivals this season will be Montana, who dropped from Division I to Division II this season.

The PNCLL is split into two Divisions, the Northern Conference, and the Southern. The Northern Conference is comprised of six teams going into the 2017 season, with the top five moving to playoffs.

“Our conference definitely has the stronger teams,” Coach Schnitzius said. “We have to beat four of them and those are the stronger four teams.”

Looking at the big picture, the team agrees that the big goal for the season is to make it to nationals and regain the standing they had nearly a decade ago.

“Western Oregon is definitely one of our teams to look at this season,” Trimble said. “They took us out of the playoff last season.”

The Wildcats begin their season with a three-game road trip, facing three tough opponents: , Portland State University, reigning PNCLL champs Southern Oregon University and PNCLL Division I; Washington State University..

“Southern [Oregon]  will be our real test,” said Trimble. “They’re also a top five team and they won the PNCLL playoff tournament.”