Southwestern hosted one of the best teams in the nation this past Sunday in the University of Texas. With our star middie falling to a recurring injury in the first quarter, and the absence of our leading scorer, the team had to once again rely on outstanding goalie play and strong team defense. Though the final score was 19-3 in favor of Texas (including holding Texas to a scoreless 3rd quarter), it was a moral victory for our team.

Because of the many injuries we have had early on, coupled with key losses of experienced players, many of our freshmen, which now comprises over half of our team, have been forced to play many quality minutes. The game against Texas was no different. In fact, against Texas, 9 out of the 16 players available were freshmen. Most of the game was spent on our defensive side of the field, with one Texas offensive push being stalled for almost four minutes, with over 10 shots, ending with a Texas goal on a Southwestern man down.

By the second quarter, every middie Southwestern had available to play except one, was a freshmen new to the game. Our team, though out-manned 16 to 42 on the sideline, played with great tenacity and heart.

With quality playing time early in the season against four good USLIA opponents, our team is poised to take advantage of games against teams which we feel we are evenly matched. This weekend is Family Weekend and Southwestern hosts St. Edward's, new to the league on Saturday at 1p.m. and Baylor on Sunday at Noon. Our last two games against Baylor have been decided by one goal in the final minutes. We were fortunate to have won both games.

One final note regarding Texas Lacrosse: Ranked in the top 15 in the nation, and clearly out-manning our young and inexperienced team, Texas is a team with a lot of class. A game which could have easily seen the score run up for ranking polls if starters played the entire time, was one, instead of learning for both teams as Texas allowed many of its reserves to enter throughout the game. That touch of class will not be forgotten. As our young team strives to learn fundamentals and team play on the field, watching Texas was an excellent hands on experience. While Southwestern may have lost the game, I think both teams and the game of Lacrosse won this weekend.

We look forward to the next time we can play Texas, hopefully with more experience, and more evenly matched.

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