THE PENDULUM

For the second time in the past three years, the Elon University men's club lacrosse team earned the right to compete in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Championships.

This year, the team will travel approximately 1,600 miles to the Mile High City of Denver, Colo., to participate in the 16-team field as the No. 7 seed. The Phoenix secured a spot in the championship with a conference tournament victory.

"It was exciting to win the conference tournament," senior Zach Stone said. "People across the nation didn't think we could do that."

The road to the national tournament began on Feb. 12, when the team traveled to Dayton, Ohio, to play the University of Dayton and Grove City College.

The team lost to both teams, who are seeded No. 2 and No. 9, respectively, in the national tournament.

Against Grove City, Elon lost 5-8. In the Dayton game, the Flyers defeated Elon 9-8, by a goal scored in overtime.

"Those were the only two games we lost," Stone said. "Even though we lost to Dayton, it was a great indicator of how the season would turn out."

After its first two losses, the team rode a 10-game winning streak to get to where it is now. Five of those victories were against the teams in Elon's conference, the Division II South Eastern Lacrosse Conference.

The teams in Elon's division of the SELC are UNC Charlotte, Appalachian State University, Coastal Carolina University, Southern Virginia University and Davidson College.

The last step in getting to nationals for the Phoenix was an SELC Division II tournament win. This came at the expense of Kennesaw State University, who it met in the finals.

In the first quarter, Elon saw itself up 6-1 before Kennesaw State made a surge to go into halftime down 7-6.

"They started coming back, but we were able to win the game 12-10," Stone said.

The SELC Division II championship team is made up of 57 Elon students, led by seniors President Stone, vice president David Wheatley, treasurer Riley Bonsall and coach Bailey Stephen.

The largest class represented on the team is the freshman class, with 24 players competing. Stone said this season many of them have only appeared in games, while being absent for practices because of fraternity commitments.

He said adding the freshmen in for games was an odd situation to face, but with their return to practices, the game play should be easier.

"A lot of our freshmen have been pledging, so they haven't been able to make it to practices," Stone said. "But now that it's over, it won't be as strange to play with them."

The team continued on its same practice schedule from the regular season after the Kennesaw State victory on April 25 to get ready for the national tournament, Stone said.

"We're preparing ourselves for teams that we've never seen before," he said. "We're trying now to pull everything together."

For the 11 seniors on the team, this tournament will be their last playing for the Phoenix.

These men have been very successful during their four years on the team, losing only eight games.

Stone said knowing he and his cohorts have been able to see such results is a incomparable feeling.

"It's been a great ride," Stone said. "It's neat to see how all our work has paid off. It's great to see it all come together in the end."