14

Mens club lacrosse still hanging on

BY ROBIN AUBRY
Staff Writer

The Pioneer Log sports

MARCH 23, 2012

Baseball
NWC Whitworth Pacific (Ore.) Linfield Pacific Lutheran George Fox Willamette Whitman Puget Sound Lewis & Clark 5-1 7-2 9-3 6-3 5-4 3-6 2-7 1-5 1-8 ALL 11-6-1 10-9 12-4 11-7 9-2 5-14 2-19 4-15-1 2-19

Softball
NWC ALL Linfield Pacific Lutheran Willamette George Fox Whitworth Pacific (Ore.) Puget Sound Lewis & Clark 14-2 14-2 10-4 7-6 6-10 6-10 2-12 0-13 16-2 16-6 11-8 12-11 8-14 8-16 2-180 0-16

Everyone had a helmet but me. And as someone who had never held a lacrosse stick in his hand and had only heard of how vicious the game can get, I was pretty terri ed. Every other member had what was likely at least 15 pounds of protection strapped, wrapped and tted over them, except for team co-captain Arlo Malmberg (12), whom I interviewed over my very rst game of catch with a lacrosse stick. e Lewis & Clark lacrosse club team has been around for several years in various shapes and forms. Malmberg has been a member of the club since he arrived at LC. To him, having a lacrosse team was a factor, however small, in his choice of LC, coming o several years of experience playing in the Bay Area. Unfortunately for him, the year before he arrived the LC team missed an away game and the league kicked them out forthright. ey had been looking for an excuse to kick us out, said Malmberg. Since then, the team has never quite been the same. As ever before, they have welcomed beginners like myself and helped them become regular players. Malmberg himself has coached quite a bit before and built up a rapport with fellow coaches in the Portland area. Yet, numbers are stagnant. I counted seven players on the eld, including myself. To be fair, all the way up to when practice started, the rain had been hitting hard. Normally we get around ten members or so, said Malmberg, but thats barely enough to ll one team, which needs ten players on the eld at all times. Ideally, a team would have about twelve members. To expand, the team also hosts remnants of the Paci c club team, who are also struggling with low turnouts. Still, while the squad runs a few simulated games every so often, there is little to do

PHOTO COURTESY OF ARLO MALMBERG

Arlo Malmberg (12) serves as the mens club lacrosse co-captain with Wade Higgins.

besides running drills to work on strengths and weaknesses. Co-captains Malmberg and Wade Higgins (13) somehow manage to coach players while also playing. Play stops repeatedly so the two captains can adjust a players position, then return to their own spots. eres also a lot of yelling that happens on the eld while play is on. Higgins, also a part-time coach, is responsible for overseeing how the club will pan out next year. As always, incoming freshmen are massive windows of opportunities, and the club under Higginss wing (Malmberg, a senior, will not be around) will likely prepare for the best-case scenario. e club, after all, has grown since the year before, and Malmberg is the only outgoing member. While hardly evident on this gloomy ursday, lacrosse as a sport is on the rise in

the northwest, according to Malmberg. On the east coast, the teams are primarily a liated with prep schools and the a uent, but to Malmberg, the west coast seems to foster a di erent sort of ideology, welcoming athletes from all over with open arms. While writing this story, I overheard a rumor that the lacrosse team is perceived as a team that only plays catch. Shuichi Matsumoto sco s at such a notion, after he was foolish enough to run drills with his motorcycle gloves. After a thwack to what should have been lacrosse gloves, the circumference of his wrist must have grown about 25% by the end of the day. Its still a bit sore, said Matsumoto, two weeks after the incident. I stayed on the sidelines for drills, though Malmberg at one point called me a natural.

Mens Tennis
NWC ALL Whitman Pacific (Ore.) Whitworth George Fox Pacific Lutheran Willamette Linfield Lewis & Clark Puget Sound 8-0 7-1 5-2 5-3 3-4 3-4 2-6 1-7 0-7 15-3 7-2 7-5 6-7 4-4 3-4 2-7 1-7 0-8

So ball falls to Bearcats & Wildcats

BY JODI SNIDER
Staff Writer

A whole new team

Trailblazers revamp their roster and coach
BY MICHAEL DANGELO
Sports Editor

Womens Tennis
NWC ALL Linfield Whitworth Whitman Pacific (Ore.) Willamette Puget Sound Lewis & Clark George Fox Pacific Lutheran 9-0 6-1 6-1 5-4 3-4 3-5 2-6 1-6 0-8 9-1 9-2 7-2 6-4 5-4 3-6 2-7 2-7 0-9

e Lewis & Clark softball team took on the Willamette Bearcats in a double header at home Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, the Pioneers fell to the Bearcats in both games. e nal scores were 10-0 and 7-1. In game one, the Bearcats were up 10-0 by the fth. Caroline DeVincenzi (12) didnt give up as she earned the Pios their only hit of the game, a double down the left eld line in the fth. However, this wasnt enough to get the Pios going and the game ended. e Bearcats won in ve. In the second game, the Pios were down 3-0 by the second inning after the Bearcats hit two consecutive home runs. In the fourth inning the Pios got their rst and only run of the day, scored by Sarah Breninger (14) on an RBI groundout by Amanda Rabith (15). Breninger was a pinch runner for Moriah Lane (15), who previously hit a single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Both Lane and Caitlin McCormack (15) nished the game 2-3 from the plate. On Sunday, LC softball had a double header against the reigning NWC Champions, the Lin eld Wildcats. Softball dropped both games to the Wildcats in ve. e score of game one was 11-2 and game two was 8-0. In game one, the Wildcats were up 11-0 on the Pios by the fourth inning. DeVincen-

PHOTO BY MAGGIE MCDERMUT

Amanda Rabith (15) has earned one run and five hits for the Pioneers.

zi earned the Pios their rst hit of the day with a triple down the left eld line. Lane then stepped up to the plate, knocking her second home run of the season out of the park, cutting the de cit to 11-2. From that point, the Pios hope started to rise as they held the Wildcats scoreless in the bottom of the fourth. Caitlin Relyea (12) led the top of the fth with a double to right center, putting the Pios in an opportune position to score. Unfortunately, the Wildcats fought back and held the Pios at only one hit in the fth. In the second game, the Pios fell hard to the Wildcats. e Wildcats scored in every inning but the fourth, while the Pios nished hitless by the fth. is ended the game 8-0.

After last weeks housecleaning, the Portland Trail Blazers are settling down as new head coach Kaleb Canales gains footing in his predecessor Nate McMillans position. As the NBAs rst Mexican-American head coach and youngest current head coach at age 33, Canales inherits a team from McMillan that, after a promising start to the season, has lost 9 of their last 12 games. I love him. Hes a very down-to-earth, very good person, said Bill Schonely, a longtime Blazers broadcaster to Associated Press sports writer Anne M. Peterson. He loves the team, he loves to teach and he loves each and everyone of those players. And the players love him to death in return. Canales, aware of his temporary position, is focused on making the most of his stint as head coach. Many people view his current role as team builder, responsible for molding the new mush of players into a winning team. Im not going to lie and say its not special, said Canales. But its not about me. Its about us. While expectations for the rest of their season are low, a stockpiling of picks promise to make the June NBA draft interesting, with hopes of landing a premier point guard.