The Biola Men’s Lacrosse team traveled to Nevada this weekend, sustaining two serious injuries.
Their first game was on Saturday against the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, a division II team which the Biola Eagles conquered with an impressive 21-13.
Saturday’s match against the University of Nevada at Reno didn’t go as smoothly.
According to head coach Josh Agadoni, two of Biola’s midfielders, Jeremy Veltkamp and Jonathan McMahan were injured and taken to the hospital.
McMahan was released after X-rays and a CAT scan showed that his jaw wasn’t broken as feared. Veltkamp had a lung contusion and stayed overnight in the hospital with his fiancée and a few friends.
“It was a heartache of a game,” said Ryan Smith, co-captain,.
Biola ended up losing in a sudden death overtime; the final score was 14-13.
While the defeat was unfortunate, the men pulled together as a team and 11 of the Eagles’ 13 goals were assisted. Motivation from the sidelines is sometimes lacking, but not at this game—the players off the field started up a Biola chant to urge on their teammates.
The loss was bittersweet, as Veltkamp was able to follow the final moments of the game—waiting in the ER—on a cellphone with the team advisor and father of two of the players. When Veltkamp heard the players chanting from the sidelines, it “gave him goosebumps,” Smith said.
Both Smith and Agadoni took the injuries in stride. Agadoni would prefer that the injuries didn’t happen, but says that they know the risks come with the game.
“It’s competitive and its hardnosed. Guys are going at it 100 percent. If you get hit, you get hit,” Smith said.
Casualties aside, the team’s season looks bright. Agadoni said that future games against the teams in their division will be a “cake walk,” because playing several difficult teams this season has already pushed them. This Saturday’s game is a perfect example—Reno is a division 1 team, which means that Biola actually did incredibly well. Knowing this didn’t make the loss any easier.
“We won the game, they just scored the final goal,” the players were told in the final huddle. This was “possibly the most frustrating thing I’ve ever heard,” said Smith.
Frustrating or not, Smith couldn’t help but be enthusiastic about their stay in Nevada.
“It was an amazing trip no matter what happened.”
