Saturday morning, on the practice fields behind Koskinen Stadium, the spring sports season officially began.
There, the men's lacrosse team started its spring schedule with six quarters of exhibition play. The team played four quarters against Salisbury University, followed by two quarters against Washington & Lee University. Although no official score was kept, the scrums provided head coach Mike Pressler with his first opportunity to see his team in a competitive setting.
"We played fine overall," Pressler said. "We're just trying to find out what we can do, what we can't do, who can do it, and who can't.... But it was a fine day for Duke, and a beautiful day to play."
The Blue Devils have only had eleven practices this year, and their rustiness showed in the opening quarters of the Salisbury match.
"I just wanted our guys to play harder," Pressler said. "Defensively we have to step it up a notch and our overall ground ball play will have to be tougher."
The scrimmage was also the first trial for Duke's highly touted freshman class, whose performance Saturday greatly impressed Pressler.
"These freshmen have impressed me from day one," Pressler said. "We played a lot of them yesterday...those freshmen are going to have to go through their growing pains quickly here, because we're counting on them."
Senior attacker Chris Haunss emphasized the need for the freshmen to start the season strong.
"I think a lot of young guys will be playing big roles for us this year, and they're going to be asked to step up early," Haunss said. "So far they've been doing a great job of it."
Freshman attacker Matt Danowski, who finished the day with five total goals, expressed his momentous start in modest terms.
"It was exciting to play so well as a team for the first time against real competition, and it felt great just being out on the field again," Danowski said.
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