Thanks to MSU Women’s Lacrosse for passing along their spring outlook. An abbreviated version appears below:
EAST LANSING – The landscape in East Lansing has dramatically changed for the
Michigan State womens lacrosse team this year. The Spartans sport a new roster, a first-year coach and a spring schedule that would make any athletic director shake their head.
While the Spartans begin the 2012 spring campaign indoors, away from the cold winds
of January in the Midwest, Michigan State is currently gearing up to travel to Southern
California in mid-February and preparing to tackle one of their most difficult schedules in recent memory.
| 2012 Schedule | ||
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 17 | UCLA | Santa Barbara, Calif. |
| Feb. 17 | San Diego State | Santa Barbara, Calif. |
| Feb. 18 | Duk | Santa Barbara, Calif. |
| Feb. 18 | Oregon | Santa Barbara, Calif. |
| Feb. 25 | Virginia | Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| Feb. 25 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| March 15 | Hope | Home |
| March 18 | Ferris State | Home |
| March 18 | West Virginia | Home |
| March 24 | Saginaw Valley | Home |
| March 24 | Western Michigan | Home |
| March 25 | Wayne State | Home |
| March 25 | Eastern Michigan | Home |
| March 31 | Indiana | Bloomington, Ind. |
| March 31 | Northwestern | Bloomington, Ind. |
| April 1 | Purdue | West Lafayette, Ind. |
| April 1 | Marquette | West Lafayette, Ind. |
| April 1 | Central Michigan | West Lafayette, Ind. |
| April 12 | Oakland | Home |
| April 14 | Michigan | Home |
| April 20-22 | WCLL Playoffs | Columbus, Ohio |
| May 10-12 | WCLA Playoffs | Colorado Springs, Colo. |
The Spartans finished the 2011 Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL) schedule
at 3-9 and didn’t make the league playoffs for the first time in recent years. Something had to be done to turn this program around, which left an unlikely face staring back at her teammates when the year concluded.
Liz Mroz, a talented midfielder from Rochester (MI), was elected president of the club and she began the job of turning this program around quickly. Normand said there was a lot of commitment from the remaining student-athletes on this team to get it right, but they needed and demanded a strong leader and that’s where Mroz comes in.
“She has done a remarkable job of lifting the program’s spirits and making good on
a promise to clean house,” he said. “If Liz doesn’t score a goal this year or find an assist, she’s already done the bulk of the work. This team would not be where it is now without her efforts . She and her teammates should be proud because they are moving in the right direction.”
“We’ve had a pretty big facelift on this team and I think we’re pointed in the right
direction,” said Mroz, the team’s president and spiritual leader. “I think we cleaned house and ended up with the athletes who wanted to be here and those who wanted to make a clear choice about making this program better,” she said.
Lauren Blakely, the Spartan’s defensive captain and four-year starter, said we needed a
new beginning to move this program forward.
“I am sure we (the team) didn’t have a lot of fun last year and that was something we
wanted to change,” she said. “I really believe we made the right choices with our roster and we have a new coach who demands that we have fun and compete.”
The Spartans tapped an unusual source to direct the Spartan resurrection… a men’s collegiate lacrosse coach who had never coached a women’s game before.
“My colleagues kept telling me that lacrosse was lacrosse,” Coach Greg Normand said about taking a coaching job with limited experience. Normand came to Michigan State, a 1976 MSU graduate, after three years as Eastern Michigan University men’s coach and the Orchard Lake St. Mary’s men’s coach the past five years. Normand said he had some problems in the beginning adjusting to a new game.
“I found out that it wasn’t exactly lacrosse as I know it. I didn’t know you couldn’t kick the balls. We had a penalty in the fall against Oakland University for shooting too hard and that didn’t make sense,” he said. “But somewhere between idiocy and genius, we found a voice and little by little, I learned a bit from my great coaching staff (Emily Pastula, Liz Pacheco and Jack Pippin) and the girls began to buy what we were selling.”
The 2012 outlook has improved a great deal over the last six months, but only if all of the
players buy into a team approach.
“Every player on that bench will be a part of every game,” Normand said. “It might look a bit rocky from the beginning, but look and see where we are at the end of the season. We don’t have a deep bench, but I really think we have some really good players and some solid role players. Again, we don’t have that one single threat that a lot of the nationally ranked teams have, but it’s hard to beat 18 players, if the young ladies buy into the concept. The tough schedule is just the first step in a long process. Judge us in late April, not right now.”
For the full press release, please visit the MSU Women’s Lacrosse website.