Idaho’s club lacrosse team finally got a win after losing their first five games by an average of 8.4 points. Junior attackman Torin Toole led the team with six goals to beat Central Washington 11-4.
“I don’t worry about how many goals I score,” Toole said. “I just know the energy was high in the locker room … before this game. We were hyped up to play, we were rested, we’ve been waiting for this game.”
The Vandals only had one home game before this, which was a 14-6 loss to the Western Washington Vikings. Idaho’s four other games were on the road, all of which were against ranked opponents. They started the season with an 18-7 and 7-6 loss to Northwest Nazarene and Chico State, respectively. After two road games in Southern Idaho, the team took a road trip to Montana.
Montana State was the first team of the weekend. The Bobcats mauled the Vandals, winning 17-8. One day later, the University of Montana Grizzlies clawed right past Idaho with a 16-3 win. Idaho had three weeks to look back on these losses, but they put the work in to get a win.
“Our schedule at the beginning of the year was tough,” Toole said. “We take a beating, but that just says everything about this team, to bounce back like that, come out on a home game after break, after those hard games, and play with this type of energy and play this well as a team.”
After one three-week-long break, the Vandals will have another. Their next game will be at home against Washington State at noon on April 16. Although there isn’t a huge sporting event for parents and family weekend, students can bring their families to the Sprint Turf to watch another rendition of the Battle of the Palouse.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jamesaldrich25