2013 Lehigh Lacrosse Player Blog: Ring Chasing

2013 Lehigh Lacrosse Player Blog: Ring Chasing

The 2013 season is here and we wanted to work closely with college programs to bring a part of the excitement to you. Throughout the 2013 season we will highlight lacrosse programs on our space for all of our readers to follow. Player blogs serve as a unique outlet for programs to showcase their season as it develops, plus highlight everything they have to offer a student-athlete. In contrast, families and fans get a glimpse into the program’s athletic and academic regimen.

Brian Hess
Midfielder – #2

Blog #12- Ring Chasing

Last weekend was a special one for the fourteen members of our senior class, as we were all honored for Senior Day versus Lafayette. Lafayette, as many of you know, is our rival, and we were looking to go 4-0 against them in our careers. A goal for the lacrosse team, as well as the Lehigh Athletics Department in general, is to “Always defeat Lafayette.” We knew that although they didn’t have the best record, they were a very talented team and we would have to bring our “A” game to do so.

Before the game, we had the typical Senior Day ceremony. It was great to have all of our parents, who have supported us so much over the past four years, on the field. It was kind of surreal to realize this was my last regular season game on Banko Field. As they called my name, I could already hear my mom’s sniffles and saw her holding back tears of joy. However, fortunately for all of us, we were granted some comic relief as the announcer said, “Senior Brian Hess, joined by his father Alice Hess, and his mother Vicki Hess.” My dad’s name is Alan, not Alice, and everyone started dying laughing. I don’t know if I have ever seen Mr. Bogorowski laugh so hard, and this moment will definitely be a family joke for years to come.

As the game started, we jumped off to a quick 4-0 lead. However, Lafeyette battled back and made it 4-2 at the end of the first quarter. We were able to play well in the 2nd quarter, and go up 9-3 at halftime. Coach noted at halftime that it would be important to keep our foot on the gas to ensure that all of the seniors, as well as the backups, could get in the game. I genuinely believe that we have one of the best scout teams in the country, and they are responsible for giving us a great look week after week. Not many people see what goes on behind the scenes, but these guys are working extremely hard throughout the week to prepare us for the games, so it was great to get them in. Some standout performances from them included Klay “Save it if you can see it” Heston, who went 1 and 1. Also, Dan Taylor went 4 and 3, and was awarded the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week award, which was awesome. David “QB1” DiMaria had a real, real, casual 3 and 3 in merely two quarters of play. Let’s all give a round of applause to David. After the game at the family tailgate, we had our senior banquet in which Coach Cassese honors all of the seniors and talks about them for a couple of minutes. After having seen this for the past 3 years, it was definitely a bit weird to finally be the one getting honored. As cliché as it is, I really feel like yesterday I was moving into my freshman dorm and meeting all of my classmates for the first time.

After the game, a bunch of us hung out with our parents. Some standout performances include Bruce Molnar, Gary Farha, and none other than Big Al Hess. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard listening to Big Al singing “I’m Glad you Came” while he jumped up and down. For anyone who knows him, it was quite the scene. It really was great to spend time with all of our parents (Snyders, Poillions, Drakes, Hunts, O’Shaughnessys, Rinaldis, Molnars, Farhas, etc.) who have supported our athletic endeavors our entire life. Nothing would be possible without them, and special thanks go out to all of them and all of the hard work they put in. To say the least, it was definitely fun to see a different side of them.

On Sunday, we put Lafayette behind us and immediately shifted our focus to the Colgate Raiders, our semifinal round opponent in the Patriot League Tournament. A majority of our season long goals center around this weekend, and this is a weekend we have had circled for the entire season. All of the hard work we did in the fall and preseason was in preparation for this weekend. Winning the first Patriot League Championship in school history last season was something I will truly never forget. However, that was last season, and this is a new season, with a new team and a new identity. Coach challenged us to “Practice like Champions” all week, and on Monday we had a typical Lehigh workday. Although we went hard, our focus was not up to par. Coach really called us out and told us that if we wanted to be champions, we needed to get our act together. We certainly did so on Tuesday, and had an unbelievable practice. Also on Tuesday was the announcement of the All-League Awards, and it was nice to see some Lehigh guys on there. Michael Noone and Matt Poillion both garnered first team, while David DiMaria, Ryan Snyder, Patrick Corbett, Ty Souders, and I were honored on the second team. Although individual awards are nice, it all means nothing if we don’t get another ring. Our team also used this as motivation, as we went 6-0 in the league, yet only had 2 guys on the firs team, while other teams had more.

While Monday and Tuesday were days we focused on ourselves, we started to game plan for Colgate on Wednesday and Thursday. Colgate is an extremely talented team, boasting last season’s Tewaaraton Award winner Peter Baum, and his counterpart Ryan Walsh. We know that we are going to get Colgate’s best shot this Friday night, and we are going to be in for a dogfight. I encourage everyone to head out to Frank Banko field on 7:30 P.M. on Friday night, and if you can’t make it, to tune into CBS Sports Network. That’s it for this week, and I look forward to blogging again next week.

One Love- Schmacka.

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