Men’s Lacrosse Season Recap – Exciting things ahead
(Photo taken from The Buzz archive)
The men’s Lacrosse team had a season full of emotions where five Bees earned All-Conference team honors. Senior Matt Cortopasi and fifth-year Dawson Dickerson were named All-Conference first team, meanwhile the brothers Hahn (Eli Hahn/freshman and Isaiah Hahn/senior) with senior Makaile Shaddix earned All-Conference second team honors.
During his first season, head coach and former player Devin Ceasar took the team to a Heart Conference semifinal where the Bees lost against their similar William Penn ending the season on a 9-7 record overall, and a 3-2 record in conference regular season.
Coach Ceasar reflects on the season, “Big learning year for me as a first-year coach. I believe we played well but what hurted us the most was the numbers we had on our team, as well as the injuries we got throughout the season. It was a good season for us to learn who we are and what we are trying to do for a shifting culture inside the team.”
(Photo courtesy of Sydnee Horstman)
With a senior class of six players, coach Ceasar knew he had to recruit many players next year to rebuild the team, and looking ahead he claims to have at least 25 new players incoming for the next season to join the team.
“I will be traveling a lot during the summer. I’m going to a lot of different recruiting tournaments in the Midwest and the Northeast regions. We are trying to reload for us to be back there in the Conference Championship and try to get down South to another National Championship Tournament,” Caesar added.
One of the important players returning next year is All-Conference first team senior Matthew Cortopassi, who will be pursuing a Masters of Business Administration at St. Ambrose University after graduating with a bachelors in sports management and a minor in marketing.
“Everyone was devastated with not reaching our end goal this season and knows that we all have to put in our own work in the offseason to be ready for next year. I know coach Ceasar has done a great job at recruiting players and bringing in recruits to help add upon our depth chart; meanwhile us returning players will be working on our own time in the summer to improve upon our stick skills, footwork, fitness and strength in the weight room,” said Cortopassi.
(Pictured above Matthew Cortopassi – Photo courtesy of Sydnee Horstman)
In a team with a whole new coaching staff and half the starting spots having to be filled, freshmen stepped up into bigger roles than expected. Zach Priami was the most outstanding freshman with 44 points of which 33 came from goals.
Cortopassi complimented his teammates, “Despite being a young team, our work ethic helped us persevere to have a good season. We did not end the season as planned, falling short in conference playoffs; but we look to build off this year and have a further complete season next year with a more experienced team.”
With the 2024-25 season ahead, the Heart of America Athletic Conference announced the expansion of the Men’s Lacrosse conference with the addition of four new associate members, Columbia College (Mo.), Midland University (Neb.), Missouri Baptist (Mo.) and Ottawa University (Kan.).
The expansion brings the conference total to nine members:
- Benedictine College (Kan.)
- Clarke University (Iowa)
- Columbia College (Mo.)
- Midland University (Neb.)
- Missouri Baptist University (Mo.)