The men's lacrosse team has stumbled its way throughout the first half of their 2013 season, and injuries have proven to be the main cause of the Eagle’s 1-7 overall record and 1-1 in the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference.

Not the ideal situation

The Eagles started off with 22 players on the practice field last fall, but those numbers have quickly declined to 18 since the start of the new year. Biola is now forced to compete against top schools such as the University of Southern California, Concordia University Irvine and California State University, Fullerton with their roster cut down to 18 players; some of those 18, however, are competing on minor injuries. Cal State Fullerton, for example, is competing with upwards of 25 players on their roster and USC has more than 30 according to the MCLA website.

“So far, we don't have a lot of numbers on our team [and] we've kind of been injury prone,” freshman David Shaum said. “We have a really small roster which puts us at a disadvantage in the first place, but on top of that a lot of guys have not played before college. The mixture between the lack of experience, a lot of injuries and not healthy players really hurts us.”

Sophomore goalie Jeremy Glimp, in spite of eight years of experience, is forced to sit out indefinitely after neglecting a tear in his hamstring — which eventually worsened.

“We had to have another player step up to be goalie. Alex Tarr [the fill in goalie], it’s his first time around,” Glimp said. “He stepped up and is doing pretty well.”

Underclassmen gives the Eagles needed support

Shaum and sophomore Joshua Nordstrom have been prominent offensive players for the team. In his first collegiate season, Shaum leads the Eagles with 19 points while sophomore Nordstrom has added 16 points, 11 of which are assists, throughout the season.

“There are a lot of selfless guys and they don't care who is scoring; there is no pride on the team,” Shaum said. “They just want to be a good team, and if that means one person scores a lot more than anyone else then everyone’s fine with that.”

Through their obstacles, the Eagles have challenged themselves to motivate each other as they begin the second half of their season. Their only victory was against Marymount College as the Eagles cruised to a 20-3 win on March 9. The Eagles recorded their seventh loss against division leader Pepperdine University on Saturday.

“Knowing that we are a smaller squad means that everyone has to work so much harder for the lack of the numbers on the field,” Glimp said. “I think one of the biggest things that we've been looking to focus on is just our heart and our dedication that goes into the game.”

Team continues prep for big upcoming games

The Eagles have two games this weekend — against University of California, San Diego on Friday, in San Diego and Saturday against California Lutheran University at Biola. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in both matches.

“I think we need to overall work on playing as a team and not as individuals but working for each other and working to play the best that we can while not hurting our ministry on the field,” Shaum said.