Adrian Northrup

With the temperature on Saturday barely hovering above freezing, the UW-Eau Claire men’s lacrosse team battled UW-La Crosse in a doubleheader at Bollinger Fields.

In the first game, Eau Claire’s B-Team defeated La Crosse 7-6 in an overtime thriller while the A-Team posted a 12-0 win in the second match of the day.

The Blugolds were originally supposed to host a round-robin tournament with La Crosse, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Stout, but due to conflicts, Milwaukee and Stout had to withdraw from the tournament.

Because lacrosse is a spring sport, the team is using these games in the fall to assess talent, build chemistry and prepare for a successful season in 2007, junior Jeremy Clements said.

A 5th place finish in the Upper Midwest Lacrosse League last year has produced high hopes for a team on the rise, he said.

“We don’t have any ‘star power,’ so to speak,” Clements said. “But we have great chemistry.”

The 32-man roster this year is the largest in the club’s history, but with only two seniors on the team the Blugolds will look to the underclassmen to step up.

Seniors Jordan Garvin, attacker, and Pat Dixon, defender, will be counted on to provide leadership for this year’s young but talented group, Clements said.

“Jordan and Pat are our only seniors on the club this year, but we had a large turnout of experienced freshmen this fall,” he said. “We’re excited about the upcoming season and what we’re capable of doing.”

The team has two home games in the spring at Carson Park, and with a lot of optimism for a strong showing this season, it hopes that the students will come out and cheer for a team that is looking to continue its upward climb in the UMLL ranks, Clements said.

“We’d like to thank our fans in the past for coming out and cheering us on,” he said. “We hope they continue to come out to our games this season, and we also hope to draw in even more fans to pass on the same feeling of enthusiasm that our team carries right now.”

The ‘Golds will play their final tournament this fall Saturday at UW-Milwaukee.