[NU Sports] On the bright side (Lax content)

[Tom Maycock]

The disappointment of Friday night's b-ball game was alleviated somewhat by seeing the Lax team utterly dismantle UMass on an incredibly beautiful March afternoon at Lakeside field. I expected this year's team to be better than last year's, and so far I'd say that prediction is holding up. They've got a dominant midfield game, and the offense has better flow with some young players fitting in nicely. They seem to be having more fun too. 

But the highlight of the afternoon might have been what happened before the game.

UMass is coached by ex-NU players: head coach Angela McMahon and associate head coach Sarah Albrecht. Albrecht was one of NU's all-time greats and was a key player on the first couple of championship teams. 

McMahon actually transferred into the program after a year at UMass, and graduated in '04, the year before they won their first championship. As a result, she has the unique distinction of the only player in the "modern" history of NU Lax to come through the program *without* earning a championship ring. After a public "welcome back" to both McMahon and Albrecht, Hiller and her staff rectified that by presenting her with a 2005 Championship ring, in recognition to her contributions to building the program in those formative years. That, my friends, is pretty classy. 

NU is also doing some really nice marketing stuff, including putting up really nice NU Lax banners and posters all around Lakeside Field, providing some nice green Lax t-shirts for fans in attendance in recognition of St. Paddy's day, providing some perks for season ticket holders, etc. It's obviously all on a smaller economic scale than, say, painting Wrigley Field purple, but it's nice to see that Phillip's efforts aren't limited to b-ball and football. 

Speaking of b-ball, a bunch of the b-ball players were in attendance (as is usually the case), and Curletti, Shurna, and Freundt got a nice bit of applause and acknowledgement when they walked in. That was nice to see. Although there was plenty of disappointment to go around, there's no question those guys were responsible for one of the best and most thrilling (and heartbreaking) seasons in NU history. 

Tom