Two weeks ago a disaster struck the University of Dallas women’s lacrosse team. On April 6 the women’s lacrosse team was scheduled to play St. Edward’s University in what was supposed to be senior day for the Crusaders. Unfortunately, severe thunderstorms prevented St. Edward’s from making the trip up from Austin, thus resulting in the cancelation of senior day for UD.
“They were on the road with 2 hours to go when the worst of the storm hit them,” said senior Erika Keever. “Even with pleading from [Coach Johnson] and even an offer of free accommodations they decided that not continuing the road trip would be their best option.”
Senior day is a time honored tradition in athletics, in which the senior members of the team are recognized for their commitment and bid farewell in their last game at home. Not having a senior day would be akin to graduating without walking on stage; the accomplishment still exists but goes unnoticed. Needless to say, having senior day cancelled was a devastating blow to the team.
“As a senior, it’s disappointing to not have the opportunity to play one last game here at UD,” said senior Lexi Leite.
“Us seniors took it pretty hard,” said Keever. “It’s really hard to look forward to something for four years and then have it suddenly stripped from you. We really wanted that last home game to show our fans how hard we’ve been working this season. It’s really difficult to do that at away games. It definitely was not how we wanted to end our last games at home.”
In spite of the setback, the lacrosse team still celebrated senior day albeit in a non-traditional fashion. Friends and family of team members played a game of lacrosse with the team. This unique game of lacrosse was exactly what the team needed after the disappointment of losing their game with St. Edwards.
“Since we had friends and family already on campus for the game, we decided to have a scrimmage against them instead,” said Leite.
“My parents had the idea to have a fans vs. UD intersquad game which ended up being really fun,” said Keever. “We had fans, friends and family come pick up sticks for the first time and play a match against us. It was a really cool way to see how supported we were by our UD family and was the best replacement we could have asked for for our senior game.”
While the substitute senior day was enjoyed by all present, the cancellation of the game cost Leite the opportunity to break the single season scoring record in front of a home crowd. Leite currently sits at 54 goals and the UD single season record is 56 set by Christine McFarland in 2010.
“I would have loved to be able to break the record in front of our families and friends on senior day,” said Leite. “Unfortunately this situation was out of our control so I look forward to the opportunity to break the record in Colorado.”
The lacrosse team will finish up the regular season in Colorado against Loras College and Johnson and Wales University on April 18 and 20. The following week UD will return to Colorado to participate in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championship Tournament on April 27 and 28 hosted by Colorado College.
