Tournament Win Propels Lacrosse Team Toward Nationals... and Beijing!
Team members, with coach Fuji Lozada at right, celebrate their tournament championship.
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5/2/2005
Contact: Bill Giduz 704/894-2244 or bigiduz@davidson.edu
Davidson’s club-level men’s lacrosse team has won the Southeastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC) Division B Championship in only its second year in the league, and is headed to national competition. The league consists of two divisions, with Davidson’s tier composed of thirteen teams representing schools with a I-AA non-scholarship football program. The top four teams in B-Division season play participated in the tournament.
Davidson defeated Liberty in the semi-final 14-8, then beat Appalachian State 12-11 in a double-overtime thriller to win an automatic bid to the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates national tournament May 12-14 in Blaine, Minn. Davidson had extra incentive heading into this year’s tournament, seeking revenge for a heartbreaking 17-19 loss to Appalachian State earlier in the season in Richardson Stadium.
"The level of talent on this team is incredible,” said goalie Ben Ralston ‘05. “In an era when Title IX has made men's club sports extremely competitive, this young team has been able to dominate.”
Ralston, who was named to the SELC All-Conference and All-Tournament teams, made several crucial saves during the two overtime periods, allowing the Davidson offense to get the clinching goal. Co-captain Garen Riedel ’06 took an overhand shot that found the back of the net to win the game.
Riedel, Ralston and four other players were named to the All-Tournament Team—defensemen Geoff Fehling ’06 and Bron Tennis ‘06, midfielder Dan Devine ‘07, and attackman Jamie Butler ‘07. Fehling was named top defensive player of the year in the league, and Ralston, Riedel, and Butler were also on the All-Conference team.
Jamie Butler advances the ball up the field for Davidson.
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Davidson finished the regular season with an overall record of 8-2, and 5-1 in SELC conference play. That included wins over cross-conference rival Elon University on the Phoenix’s home field, a win over the University of South Carolina for the second consecutive year, and a total goal advantage over opponents of 167 to 82.
Players credit their success to Fuji Lozada, assistant professor of anthropology and a former Division I lacrosse player. "Having a faculty member involved who is just as passionate about the game as the players is key to having a successful program,” said defenseman Greg Means ‘08. “Luckily, we have that. Fuji brings experience and focus to the field from his days playing defense at Harvard, and he’s aiming to build a strong, fundamental program that can compete at the highest possible level.”
“We shocked everyone in the southern lacrosse world by winning the B-Division championship,” Lozada said. “We’re looking forward to competing now on a national stage.”
Lozada will actually take Davidson lacrosse onto the international stage this summer. He has arranged for a Davidson-led team to play in the annual Beijing Cup in China. Nine Davidson players will be joined by others from Savannah College of Art and Design and St. Johns College (Minnesota) for a two-week trip to China beginning May 24. All members of the team will wear Davidson jerseys in competition. In addition to the tournament, players will give lacrosse clinics in Shanghai.
Lozada will stay in China this summer to continue his research on the impact of sports on the development of civil society. Contrary to Robert Putnam, who argues in his recent book Bowling Alone, that the professionalization of sports organizations has been a divisive force in society, Lozada believes the situation isn’t that simple. He explained, “Community volunteers who are brought into organizations like AYSO, US Lacrosse, or US Hockey have to endure a lot of bureaucracy like training and certification, but I argue that these groups still build significant bridging social capital because they provide opportunities for people within a community to interact with each other.”
A Davidson player checks an App State player in the tournament finals.
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Comparing such efforts in China, which is seen as developing its civil society and other democratic processes, with the United States, which has been portrayed as experiencing a decline in civil society, should reveal more about how civil society grows and sustains itself.
Three other student non-players will also be in China with Lozada for their own summer research, and a player parent is making the trip as an assistant coach.
Since its inaugural season in 2003, the men’s lacrosse roster has almost tripled to twenty-nine players, and just seven seniors graduate this year. Lozada explained that club sports at Davidson do receive some funding from the college, but are not as visible as varsity sports. “There is not the same recognition, despite the similar black-and-blue color of the bruises and the shared sweat on the fields of play,” he said.
Team members are no less thrilled, though, at the opportunity to compete for a national championship. Midfielder Dan Kriebel ’05 looked back over his career and said, “The team has been a great balance of fun and hard work. We’ve all stuck together through two common bonds – a love for lacrosse and a love for Davidson.”
Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,700 students. Since its establishment in 1837 by the Presbyterian Church, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine. Davidson is engaged in “Let Learning Be Cherished,” a $250 million campaign in support of student financial assistance, academic resources, and community life.
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