Halloween Special

...How's everyone doing on this unusually warm fall day? I hope everyone's October has been great and I know everyone is getting ready and excited for Halloween.  Personally, not my favorite holiday.  Ever since the age where it became awkward asking for candy because you were taller than all the parents handing out candy, I feel like the holiday has gone downhill.  But hey, that's just me...

...So since my last post of roughly 20 days ago, the squad has been quite busy.  First, I want to give a big Thank You for anyone who helped out the St. Baldrick's event.  Once again, it was a huge success and that is in large part due to our parents and all fans who donated, participated, or just attended the event.  To date, we have raised over $8,000, and you can still donate! So if you're feeling generous, help us get to that $10,000 mark and donate for a great cause!...

...Now onto the lacrosse side of our fall, which is why we're all here anyways.  I think it's fair to say that the team helped defend America's dominance over our northern neighbor when we faced McGill in our annual fall ball match-up.  After five weeks of beating up on each other, the team was ready and eager to show what we have accomplished in just a few practices.  Top to bottom, the team played awesome and took a big step in the right direction.  The final score was 14-7, a convincing win for the Cards.  If memory serves me well, the offense was led by senior midfielder Nick Travers, who finished the day with three goals.  Along with that, Ryan Hastings, Brendan Damm, and Anthony Pafundi netted two goals each.  Overall, the players, as well as the coaches, were very pleased with the performance of the team and I think only made us more excited to get the real season going...

...After the game, the squad still had two more morning and night practices, as well as the Alumni game.  I know I speak on behalf of all the seniors when I say we'll all miss the 6a.m. fitness practices very, very much...okay maybe not, but I think it made us realize how all to fast senior year is going by.  That Saturday, the old timers of the lacrosse program came up for the annual Alumni game and, confident as always, gave the current players a good challenge.  I'm not to sure of the final score, but either way, it was awesome seeing the guys that I played with throughout my career.  The game really shows the building of a tradition within the program, and the stronger our alumni base becomes, the more the program will grow.  On a side note, I'm calling a guaranteed Win in next years Alumni Game with my class helping the alumni squad out...

...After the alumni game, the team, parents, alumni, and friends enjoyed an awesome tailgate as always.  Once again, the parents and fans of this team really go above and beyond, and on behalf of all the players, thank you for that.  So now that fall ball is over, its safe to say most players have been catching up on backed up school work, or more likely on some sleep, although I naturally wake up at 5a.m. now so, that isn't possible for me.  For now, the team has some community service activities coming up, including the polar plunge.  This is always a great event, and nothing is more enjoyable than jumping into Lake Champlain in November...just like Long Beach in mid August, kind of...

...My first and last fall season has come and gone, and quite rapidly as well.  Looking at my class schedules, I was a tad shocked and surprised to see we just finished our 9th week of school, yikes.  Guess I should start that 30 page paper.....Once again, the team is pumped and ready to go for the spring.  Although I won't make any Joe Namath like predictions, I will say that the team has some pretty high expectations this year, and I can't wait to get the season rolling...

As promised, Junior Attackman Timmy Lawrence put together the photos from our hike up Poco Moonshine and made a pretty cool video, and the quality of the images kicks in at the 18 second mark....

And being the video lacks a little in the sound department, and the fact that we live in the greatest country in the world andddd since we just beat a foreign team, here's a little American pride....Have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!

We're Baaack

...Hello Plattsburgh lacrosse family and fans, and welcome back!  It's a beautiful Friday here in the Burgh before Columbus day break and I am about to attempt to write my first blog of my young career.  But, before I introduce myself and let everyone in on what's been going on, let me first give a big thank you to Mike Santisteban.  Mike, besides the fact that he was our dominant fogo, ran the blog for the team as well as made all the youtube videos, from spring break to season highlights.  He did a great job keeping our fans in touch with the team and up to date on all games and events which is a huge part on building our lacrosse community. I know its been a full month into the school year without a post, but I promise I'll keep everyone posted from here on out, and now for the new guy...  My name is Mike Lind, a senior defenseman and captain from Garden City, Long Island (sorry upstate fans, another Long Island perspective).  I'm a history education major and, sadly enough, already looking into my future grad school program to continue my goal of one day becoming a high school teacher.  I am the youngest of six children and to save your time, I wont go through all of their stories and background, but I will give you their names in order; Kirsten, Eric, Eileen, Kathryn, Janine, myself, and my parents Mary Ann and Albert.  My time at Plattsburgh has been extremely enjoyable, and although I came in as a middie and miss scoring goals ( all four of them) the time I have spent being part of this program has been awesome.  I'm excited to take the realm of the blog for the remainder of the year, and I hope I can live up to the legends such as Dan DeFrancesco, who I am sure will critique my every post...
...Getting back into the team, we have been extremely busy so far this fall.  We are just about to wrap up the third week of our fall ball season, and the players' sleep patterns have been altered to say the least.  Due to time restraints on the turf, we have been having late practices, which wouldn't be to bad if it weren't for the 6am workouts.  Although the lack of sleep and the hard workouts have been a mental and physical drain for the squad, the team has done well coming together and knowing that everything we do now will help extend our season this upcoming spring.  As a team, we couldn't be more excited with the talent and personality we have this year, and I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say we wont be satisfied till we have that SUNYAC champiosnhip...We have two more weeks of fall ball left, with the McGill game coming up next Friday, the 12th and the alumni game the following week on Saturday the 20th, which is always fun and  great getting the old-timers back in the burgh...
...Aside from practice and training, the team has been plenty busy with community service and other events.  Certain members have been helping out with the new youth team established here in Plattsburgh.  The kids love it when the college players come, and although it seems like just a nice thing to do, the building of a youth program is huuuge for making Plattsburgh into a lacrosse community.  These young kids are some of our biggest fans, and maybe one day will be future stars, but for now they're doing their part in getting lacrosse popular in the North Country.  Aside from that, we have participated in the Buddy Walk, a great annual event to bring awareness to Down Syndrome, the Bed Race to try and raise money to multiple charities, and we were also invited to join in on the parade festivities in honor of the Battle of Plattsburgh.  Once again, the team, headed by head coach Ryan Cavanagh, has been working hard in their main fundraiser, St. Baldrick's.  This is a great foundation to raise money and awareness for children suffering from cancer.  Our team has set a goal to raise $10,000, and anyone who is interested in donating can do so through our St. Baldrick's page: http://www.stbaldricks.org/search/everythingresults/searchValue/cardinals+clip+cancer/submitEverything/Search/ .  The team and other members of the campus will also be shaving our heads on Oct. 12th, at Olive Ridley's.  If you have already donated or helped out in any way, thank you!  All events were for great causes and the community really appreciates seeing the athletes out there helping out...
...I know this was a little of a long post, but the team really has been quite busy so far this fall.  I will post more frequently from here on out, and I hope everyone can attend the McGill or Alumni game.  We truly have one of the best fan bases out there, and I thank you guys for that.  Lastly, the guys this morning, departing from the campus at roughly 4:30 a.m., hiked up Poke-O-Moonshine, a peak roughly thirty minutes away from school.  Although it was an early morning, I think it's fair to say we saw some of the best views some of our eyes have ever seen, especially for us Long Island folks.  Attackman Timmy Lawrence set up his go pro to take pictures of the rising sun every five seconds, and the final product came out awesome.  Hopefully by next post I can have those up for you to view in a video format.  But for now, enjoy the extended weekend, and once again, Welcome Back!