Daily Archives: February 10, 2009

“Everyone at Cal State Fullerton should get on board because we’re never going to get a football team,” Lee said. “This team will live for years and years to come because the lacrosse community in Orange County is huge, and we’ve established ourselves as a strong program.”

 

The lacrosse team currently practices on the recreation field from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. – clearly not an ideal time considering the campus turns the lights off an hour before midnight.

http://www.dailytitan.com/sports/lacrosse_starts_season_off_with_a_bang-1.1361180

 

Date	Home	Score	Away	Score
Jan 31	CSUF	19	Concordia University	2
Feb 07	CSUF	11	UC San Diego	8
Feb 14	CSUF	-	Long Beach State	-
Feb 18	UC Irvine	-	CSUF	-
Feb 21	CSUF	-	Cal Lutheran University	-
Feb 28	Biola University	-	CSUF	-
Mar 14	Willamette University (Oregon)	-	CSUF	-
Mar 15	Southern Oregon University	-	CSUF	-
Mar 21	CSUF	-	Westminster College	-
Mar 23	CSUF	-	Western Washington University	-
Mar 27	Occidental College	-	CSUF	-
Apr 04	CSUF	-	Saint Mary’s College	-
Apr 10	CSUF	-	Pepperdine University	-
Apr 18	CSUF	-	UC Santa Cruz	-

Four years ago, as Warren Lee trotted around campus, he noticed a poster which jolted the landscape of his collegiate career. It promoted Cal State Fullerton’s men’s lacrosse team, which was looking for students to join the club for its inaugural season.

Lee committed without much hesitation, or expectation.

“I didn’t think I’d be a part of it the way I am now,” Lee said. “When I first started to play I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll come to the games and show up to practice.’ I didn’t think I’d get involved with it as much as I did.”

Since then, the Titans have assembled a formidable team that could wreak havoc this postseason. It would be a fitting culmination to a strenuous collegiate career for seniors who had only three wins during their first two seasons on the team.

This season, the Titans have amassed a 9-3-1 record, highlighted by a win this past Saturday against UC San Diego, 11-8, at Capistrano Valley High School in San Juan Capistrano.

The next day, members of the Titans lacrosse team came on campus to post fliers, displaying the club’s game schedule.

“That’s something we didn’t do last year,” Jordan Michaels, team co-captain, said. “We’re putting the time and effort to promote the team around campus.”

The effort also includes vying for practice time on campus.

Because the lacrosse team is considered a club, it has to do some of the leg work other teams receive automatically, such as reserved practice time on the field. Because of this, team co-captains have to request time from the ASI office, Lee said.

The lacrosse team currently practices on the recreation field from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. – clearly not an ideal time considering the campus turns the lights off an hour before midnight.

“It’s just nothing but an uphill battle,” Lee said. “It’s always been a student-run organization, and that’s one of the hard parts. It’s not really discouraging, but it’s a little bit frustrating when you see that the baseball team has the nicest field on campus. For us, we have to go through the school to do everything.”

Lee believes the additional work has made the team’s success that much greater for those who have been with the club since it first started.

“It’s really rewarding to see something you’re a part of grow and succeed because we’re getting more recognition from the school,” Lee said.

Because the lacrosse club does not receive much school funding, it raises money by selling game tickets to watch the Anaheim Arsenal, a minor league affiliate of the Los Angeles Clippers. It also generated $3,000 from Casino Night, which will help the team run its annual $45,000-$60,000 budget, Lee said.

“Every year it’s a new learning process,” Michaels said. “We’re just taking notes and looking to improve.”

On the field, the team has progressed.

It won one game in the first season, two in the second and last year it collected five wins. This spring, the Titans have won both conference games. The success so far has the team’s lone All-American, predicting great success for the Titans.

“I think we’re capable of going to the national championships,” sophomore midfielder Jesse Luchansky said. “We’re on the right path to success, and everything’s coming together.”

The team hopes its success can help gain more support around campus as well.