HARTSVILLE — There’s a new kid in town, and Coker men’s lacrosse coach Tony Smith is hoping the football-loving fans of Hartsville and the Pee Dee will embrace his sport with just as much passion as they do their others.
The Cobras play their first official lacrosse game tonight at Byerly Park.
Like football, it will be hard-hitting at times.
Like hockey, it will be fast-paced.
Like basketball, it requires its participants to be athletes, to be able to cut on a dime and change direction in the blink of an eye.
Like soccer, there will be a lot of running, by some estimates four miles or so depending on which position a player plays.
And despite the fact this team has never played an official college lacrosse match together, the Cobras intend to win when they take the field against Shorter University at 6 p.m.
Sure, Smith is aware of the ups and downs programs go through when they’re just trying to gain a foothold. He realizes there likely will be more success farther down this road, which is undergoing the very beginning stages of the paving process.
But still, the object remains the same.
“I wasn’t brought here to lose,” Smith said.
No, he wasn’t. But whether his team is destined to win right away or whether it isn’t, getting players into the program was not difficult, Smith said.
Smith is from lacrosse country, in Maryland. He played collegiately at the Community College of Baltimore County-Catonsville and at Whittier (Calif.) College.
He has plenty of ties in the Northeast, where lacrosse enjoys its widest popularity. So that’s where he went months ago when he wanted to advertise his fledgling program, hitting up recruiting events in Maryland, Long Island, Philadelphia and other places.
What he found was student-athletes who were happy to come south and play.
“I said, ‘You wanted playing time? Well, you got it, brother,’” Smith said. “It was easy for me to get players here because of that.”
Smith thinks he has a pretty talented bunch.
Of course, the Cobras are young. A quarter of the 28-man roster is made up of junior transfers, so there is at least some college lacrosse experience on the field at times. The rest are freshmen, except for one sophomore.
With the youthful composition of the program comes the task of building chemistry. Of course, that chemistry isn’t fully developed just yet — that will come as players continue to learn more about each other and play together in stressful, real-game situations.
But, Smith said, the Cobras are off to a good start.
“Right away, when the kids wanted to come up with a catch-phrase for the season, all they would say is, ‘family,’” Smith said. “When you have a majority of your roster from up to 10 hours away, you don’t get to see mom and dad all the time. So they really focused on the whole family aspect, and that’s one thing that has kind of brought these kids together.”
The excitement about the program on campus, Smith said, is palpable. And players say they’re ready to play a real game.
It’s not lost on them that lacrosse is an alien sport to the Pee Dee. Although some high schools in the Upstate and a few along the coast play it, it has not caught on yet in these parts, although Smith thinks it’s simply a matter of time before it does. Coker will expand its own program next year when it fields a women’s lacrosse team for the first time.
“Everybody is very excited, anxious to get going,” junior attackman Steven Marciano said. “We have so much excitement built up. We feel like we have a lot to prove. We know there’s really no one in the area that knows a whole lot about the sport, so we’re excited to spread it and get everybody involved in it. I think everybody will really like it.”
Marciano’s simple advice to fans attending their first lacrosse game tonight is the same as in any sport: Keep your eye on the ball.
“It’s very fast, there will be a lot of whistles and things will happen very, very quickly,” he said. “Changes of possession happen quickly. Just follow the ball.
“People sometimes tend to get wrapped up in watching what’s going on away from the ball. But don’t do that. Really, it’s all about the end goal of putting the ball in the back of the net by any means possible. Just try to keep your head into it as much as you can and don’t get frustrated if you don’t know all the calls.”
Smith said fans watching the game for the first time will like what they see.
But whatever the case, the Cobras are ready to get on with their new adventure.
“It’s awesome to be a part of this new buzz,” freshman midfielder Ryan Vento said. “It’s just that new program aspect of we have to make the foundation. It’s like building a house. You have to have a foundation before you can put the roof on. Just building this program is a lot of fun.”
Coker men’s lacrosse schedule
February
10 — Shorter; 15 — Catawba; 17 — Pfeiffer; 19 — Tampa; 22 — at Mars Hill.
March
3 — at Lees-McRae; 6 — at Limestone; 8 — at Chestnut Hill; 10 — vs. Seton Hill at Chestnut Hill College; 17 — Lake Erie; 23 — Florida Tech; 31 — at Florida Southern.
April
1 — at Saint Leo; 4 — Belmont Abbey; 7 — at Lenoir-Rhyne; 11 — Queens
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