Cleats rip off the turf as a stick whooshes through the air, quickly launching a white ball towards a net with orange posts. After making the shot, the player gets back into line and fist bumps one of his teammates.

As a whistle sounds and the lacrosse Rocks huddle up, 21-year Trinity head coach Pete Schroeder talks to all his players, giving them a rundown of the practice. After last year’s state runner-up season, they are hungry for a better result.

The team practices every day and lifts regularly, a change from last year with the presence of COVID-19 restrictions. Schroeder worked with the lifting coaches, Coach Mike Snyder and Coach Andrew Johnson, to get the team ready for the season. While lifting strengthened the athletes, it also helped them bond as a team.

Senior Liam Murray, a captain, said, “We started during the fall lifting two to three times a week.”

Taking on local teams as well as powers from Tennessee and Ohio, the Rocks through eight games of the new season have a 5-3 record, currently on a 4-0 run following a 14-2 defeat of Frederick Douglass.

Sophomore Huck Campbell praised the work and knowledge of the coaches. Schroeder alone has more than 50 years of lacrosse experience. Campbell said, “They are great coaches because they are player first, and if anything is wrong, I could definitely ask the coaches and they would understand me as a player and as a person.”

Campbell cited two of the players who motivate him to improve: “Liam Murray and Owen Bork, because they play hard.”

The JV players are also starting strong, compiling a 4-0 record so far. Team 3 and the JV team give all students an opportunity to try out lacrosse.

Schroeder said, “We give everyone in the school a chance for lacrosse, and eventually as a long game, it will grow the game in the city.”

Players on the JV team and Team 3 work to develop their skills. Sophomore Tyler Windham, a member of the JV team, said, “It gives you an opportunity to play even if you are not good enough to make varsity yet. What pushes me to be better is my team, because I want to be a better teammate to help them out.”

Motivation is something that the lacrosse program doesn’t lack, because for many lacrosse players, the sport has become a way of life.

Murray talks about how he started playing lacrosse and what led him to want to be better at the sport: “In third grade my dad took me to River City, and we watched a Trinity team play there.”

This intrigued Murray, so he picked up the sport and has been playing ever since, trying to get to the level he saw the Trinity guys play at so many years ago. Murray stuck with lacrosse because of the “fun of the game,” and he is now committed to play at Mars Hill, a university in North Carolina with a premier DII lacrosse program.

Murray’s motivation inspires the other players, such as Campbell, who talks about how lacrosse has become a way of life. He said, “I’ve made a lot of friends through lacrosse, and I play year-round, so it takes up a lot of my time.”

The success the team continues to have this year will be due to the preparation leading up to the season. Schroeder summed up their offseason work perfectly: “We let the play talk for itself.”

Gallery • 10 Photos

photos by Chris Raymer

The lacrosse Rocks are on a four-game winning streak.