Gunnar Fellows, called the quarterback of Army men’s lacrosse offense by his coaches, knows what is ahead for an Army men’s lacrosse team that desperately wants to show that it is among its premier programs.
The next three games, all on the road, will be the next steps in proving themselves. The Black Knights travel to improving Lafayette on Friday night. Then, it’s a March 14 trip to always-challenging Boston University, followed by a visit to Chapel Hill, N.C. where the Black Knights take on top-ranked North Carolina on March 21.
On Saturday, Fellows and his teammates took care of business against Holy Cross at Michie Stadium, coasting to a 13-5 victory over the Crusaders in both team’s opening Patriot League game, The No. 11-ranked Black Knights stayed unbeaten (6-0), while Holy Cross fell to 3-3.
“We lost 22 seniors to graduation last year but no one on this team ever felt that we were not ready to compete again at the highest level,” Fellows said. “Each year we start over again with a new puzzle and that means new guys who are stepping up and getting the opportunity to prove themselves. That happened again this year. As a team, we believe in each other and we have a lot of young guys stepping up who are making a big difference.”
While the entire Army team is focused strictly on the upcoming Lafayette game, Fellows is quick to add that the squad is eager to take on every team on the schedule.
“Sure, we realize the tough games ahead of us,” Fellows said. “But we have all played lacrosse for a long time and have faced a lot of tough competition. We think the tougher the team we are facing the more elevated our game becomes. We look forward to the tougher teams and believe a road trip like this will only help us get more experience and confidence that will help us later in the season.”
Fellows, a senior attacker who has been nothing but consistent and, at times, spectacular, during his time at West Point with 99 goals over four seasons, poured in three goals against the Crusaders, while 10 other Black Knights each scored once to pace the victory.
“Gunnar is the guy who makes our offense happen, the quarterback out there,” said Army coach Joe Alberici. “He has been doing it for four years, serving as a leader on this team and a constant presence on the field. Today was another example of a fine game by him with Gunnar making the plays when we needed him to.”
Alberici is confident that Fellows and the rest of team are primed to keep playing at a high rate to keep this season moving in the right direction.
“We are 6-0, pretty good for a team that lost 22 seniors,” he said. “And the teams we have played so far have shown to be pretty good. What has me really excited is the fact that our team has the ability to just get better and better given the fact that we have so many new faces out there and it gives us a higher ceiling to improve.”
Alberici added, “But right now we are simply focused on Lafayette, a team that made the Patriot League semifinals and brings back about 90 percent of its scoring returning this year. This is a huge game for us.”
As steady as the Army offense was, it was its defense that again made the difference against Holy Cross, shutting down the Crusaders’ scoring for about 30 minutes of play from midway in the second quarter to about the same time left in the fourth quarter and converting a concerning 4-3 Army lead to 13-3 edge. Let’s not forget about senior goalie Sean Byrne. In about three quarters of play, he stopped 12 of 15 Holy Cross shots, an extremely impressive 80 percent rate. Holy Cross goalie JR Long was also outstanding in net, stopping 20 of 33 Army shots.
“We had a short week, bussing back from Georgia on Monday and not back at West Point until Tuesday night,” said Alberici. “I am proud how the team handled this and got themselves ready for the game. All wins are great, getting your first league victory makes it that much better.”
