KUA Lacrosse Spring Training
On March 12th 23 Kimball Union student-athletes attended the Trilogy Lacrosse Spring Training event in Casa Grande, Arizona.
The 2017 season kicked off with our annual spring break trip. This year the team headed west to avoid the humidity and thunder storms of Florida. The dry heat of Arizona didn't disappoint!
Upon arriving at the Grande Sports complex the Wildcats were met by Trilogy's program director, 4x Princeton Lacrosse All-American, MLL All-Star, NLL All-Star, 3x Team USA member, Ryan Boyle. Ryan took the guys through the impressive faciity that was originally built for the SF Giant's spring training. The team had access to a locker room, weight room, therapy pool and their own grass field.
After a quick meal, we headed to the field for the first of many training sessions in sunny Arizona. With an array of skill levels represented on the trip, our sessions always began with stickwork and bullt up to a larger team concept.
After a heavy dose of ground balls, stick skills, shooting and defensive footwork. The Wilcats faced off against Newark Academy in their first evening scrimmage. The pregame energy proved to be a little excessive as the KUA offense was too rushed and the defense extended to aggressively during the opening quarter. Led by their Hamilton bound faceoff man, Newark Academy charged out to a haltime lead before the 2nd teamers entered the game. New arrival Dylan Klopfer '18 stood our between the lines providing a disruptive force between the lines. The midfield duo of Will Harrigan '17 and Andrew Robertello '18 seemed to pick up right were they left off from last season initiating the offense from the top. The highlight of the game came in the 4th quarter when Nick Fife '20 scored from the wing and preforming a celebration that got the KUA bench fired up.
The Wildcats regrouped Tuesday morning, focusing on defensive fundamentals. The team met for a pre-practice film session to watch the Duke-Loyola game to understand on and off-ball defensive positioning. On the field the offense received transition instruction from Ryan Boyle to improve our slow and fast breaks.
Tuesday night the Wildcats took the field to face the 2016 Arizona State Champs, Gilbert. KUA jumped out to a fast start as Will Harrigan '17 struck in transtion off a feed from Jay Chubb '19 and never looked back. Offensively, Jack Clarner '19 showed off his left with a beautiful on the run goal in the 2nd and Carson Moe '20 tallied his first goal as a Wildcat. Rob Raymond '18 stood out defensively after making the switch to defense this offseason. Backup goalie Connor Comeau '18 stole the show making 8 saves in the 2nd half to seal the win for the Wildcats.
Wednesday's off day focused on riding and clearing, two aspects where we underpreformed vs Gilbert. After a long morning session and an intense, but short practice in the mid-day sun, the boys received the night off and a much deserved Chipotle dinner! Many of the guys went out to watch the Hun School scrimmage a school from Tempe before bed.
After 2 more practices on Thursday, KUA squared off against Episcpal Academy (VA) in what would be the toughest scrimmage of the trip. Armed with the top 2018 UNC-bound recruit and 40 players on the bench, Episcopal was going to be a tough test. Despite our tired legs and a much shorter bench. KUA gave EA everything they could handle in the clearing game, holding EA to 20% clearing with an aggressive and physical presence in the middle of the field. Nick Parker '17 helped the Wildcats clear the ball with almost perfect effeciency and Julian Erhard '19 continued to play strong from X. While KUA came up a little short, the game proved we can hang with anyone.
Back
Upon arriving at the Grande Sports complex the Wildcats were met by Trilogy's program director, 4x Princeton Lacrosse All-American, MLL All-Star, NLL All-Star, 3x Team USA member, Ryan Boyle. Ryan took the guys through the impressive faciity that was originally built for the SF Giant's spring training. The team had access to a locker room, weight room, therapy pool and their own grass field.
After a quick meal, we headed to the field for the first of many training sessions in sunny Arizona. With an array of skill levels represented on the trip, our sessions always began with stickwork and bullt up to a larger team concept.
After a heavy dose of ground balls, stick skills, shooting and defensive footwork. The Wilcats faced off against Newark Academy in their first evening scrimmage. The pregame energy proved to be a little excessive as the KUA offense was too rushed and the defense extended to aggressively during the opening quarter. Led by their Hamilton bound faceoff man, Newark Academy charged out to a haltime lead before the 2nd teamers entered the game. New arrival Dylan Klopfer '18 stood our between the lines providing a disruptive force between the lines. The midfield duo of Will Harrigan '17 and Andrew Robertello '18 seemed to pick up right were they left off from last season initiating the offense from the top. The highlight of the game came in the 4th quarter when Nick Fife '20 scored from the wing and preforming a celebration that got the KUA bench fired up.
The Wildcats regrouped Tuesday morning, focusing on defensive fundamentals. The team met for a pre-practice film session to watch the Duke-Loyola game to understand on and off-ball defensive positioning. On the field the offense received transition instruction from Ryan Boyle to improve our slow and fast breaks.
Tuesday night the Wildcats took the field to face the 2016 Arizona State Champs, Gilbert. KUA jumped out to a fast start as Will Harrigan '17 struck in transtion off a feed from Jay Chubb '19 and never looked back. Offensively, Jack Clarner '19 showed off his left with a beautiful on the run goal in the 2nd and Carson Moe '20 tallied his first goal as a Wildcat. Rob Raymond '18 stood out defensively after making the switch to defense this offseason. Backup goalie Connor Comeau '18 stole the show making 8 saves in the 2nd half to seal the win for the Wildcats.
Wednesday's off day focused on riding and clearing, two aspects where we underpreformed vs Gilbert. After a long morning session and an intense, but short practice in the mid-day sun, the boys received the night off and a much deserved Chipotle dinner! Many of the guys went out to watch the Hun School scrimmage a school from Tempe before bed.
After 2 more practices on Thursday, KUA squared off against Episcpal Academy (VA) in what would be the toughest scrimmage of the trip. Armed with the top 2018 UNC-bound recruit and 40 players on the bench, Episcopal was going to be a tough test. Despite our tired legs and a much shorter bench. KUA gave EA everything they could handle in the clearing game, holding EA to 20% clearing with an aggressive and physical presence in the middle of the field. Nick Parker '17 helped the Wildcats clear the ball with almost perfect effeciency and Julian Erhard '19 continued to play strong from X. While KUA came up a little short, the game proved we can hang with anyone.
