Nick Bonazoli
Ahead of the Merrimack Men’s Lacrosse season, the team has already begun preparing for its fourth year as a Division-1 team. This year will be a lot different, as they will debut their first year playing as an affiliation of the America East conference. They will compete with new faces beyond the Northeast Conference.
Last year the laxmen had a 3-4 in the NEC and a 6-6 overall record in the 2022 season. With a short-lived term with NEC, Coach Michael Morgan gave me some insights on what we can expect from this new transition into this recent conference. “Being in America East isn’t too ‘foreign’ for us,” said Coach Morgan, “these teams will generally keep us in the Northeast. We are familiar with some teams such as the University of Vermont and UMass Lowell right down the road. But as we transitioned from NE-10 (DII) to NEC (DI), to America East we are always welcoming new competition.”
One of the main goals Coach Morgan emphasized was “respect.” Coach Morgan knows that they can only improve by learning by themselves and navigating challenges on and off the field to become a top-25 team. Even when facing new challenges and familiar faces every year Coach Morgan still wants that recognition and respect for hard work and to be the best versions of themselves on and off the field. “Every game, every team, and every non-conference team pushes us to do better every time,” said Coach Morgan.
To go along with the motivation and the desire for respect some returning faces are attackman Jack Rooney who has a stellar track record of 40 points last season and 16 assists on goal and with Henry Vogt returning as a goalkeeper, anything is possible.
Upon many of these career achievements the team already has demolished Merrimack’s regional rival and an America East opponent, UMass Lowell as a non-conference opponent last year reaching career highs, Merrimack will hopefully reach those goals for the respect they strive for.
