UCAFANS.COM | GO UCA BEARS!

that is all word of mouth from players. and it is atleast 4 home games (then if we get a conferance we should have more).

I have heard a rumor that the MAC conference and UCA have been discussing our men's soccer program. If that's the case get ready for trips to Buffalo and Akron. Don't know how financially feasible that will be. I know we don't have to travel to every MAC school every year (unless you play a home and home) but that is still a lot of ground to cover. Plus the $150,000 from the SGA is only on the table until a conference is found. Then that money is gone. I'm not sure everyone knew that.

I know we need a conference and the MAC may be a great idea. On the surface though, I can't tell.

The MAC would be good, even if as a stepping stone. If we could compete in that league, and I think we would fairly quickly, closer leagues would take an interest in it. Men's soccer conferences seem to be constantly in flux.

Aeon Flux?

two home spring games and now maybe 5-6 regular season home games.

Deja Vu - JT at it again in the MAC/Butler

I think this article on Butler's Lacrosse team will give us a little bit more insight on what our Soccer Coach and players just went through this past semester.


Butler elects not to play out 2007 season

January 31, 2007
Inside Lacrosse Staff

Butler has elected not to go forth with the 2007
season, effectively ending a Bulldogs lacrosse
program that has been competing since 1993.

Butler will not play lacrosse this spring.

Men's head lacrosse coach Stan Ross has confirmed that the team will not compete this season, citing lack of participation following the school's decision to disband the program in June of 2007.

According to Ross, only 12 players showed up to a Wednesday meeting in the Butler locker room (another four had expressed interest in going forth with the season but were unable to attend), effectively signaling the end for a Bulldogs program that had been in action since 1993.

"I think that they knew what the answer was, but I don’t think anybody wanted to say it," Ross said. "They wanted to play and prove their heart and that they wear it on their sleeves...they had tears in their eyes, but they had to say it."

"It’s heartbreaking that it had to happen to all of us, that we had to make the biggest decision of our lives,” said sophomore midfielder Dan Gassel. “This whole thing has just been a mess; constantly talking with parents, coaches, other teams. We just got put in this position."

The team’s election not to proceed this spring comes on the heels of the school’s official announcement last Friday that the athletic department would be eliminating the men’s lacrosse and swimming programs, scheduled to officially take effect on June 1.

Athletic Director Barry Collier recommended the elimination of the two teams following a comprehensive review of the school’s athletic programs, which was then carried forth by Butler president Bobby Fong.

"This action has been taken in order to focus our efforts and seek success in our remaining 19 sports," Collier said in an official statement Friday. "We are committed to the Butler Way, the success of our sponsored programs and the best possible student-athlete experience."

The surprise decision left the 2007 season in doubt and Ross with a depleted roster, as a number of the team’s current members, including top middie Jeremy Sieverts (headed to Maryland) announced their intentions to transfer, while others decided to sit out to preserve a year of eligibility.

According to Ross, as many as six or seven Butler players have already lined up transfers, although he was unable to divulge the other names at this time.

“I don’t think they realized that many of our best players have options right away and there are plenty of kids who can’t play this season because they need to save eligibility to play somewhere else,” sophomore defenseman Will Jeffery said Tuesday afternoon.

As Gassel, who falls under the category of players that had chosen to preserve their eligibility, points out, proceeding to play could have worn on the spirit of the remaining Butler players as much as the past couple days have.

"You've already had your heart taken out of it, and then if you stay and play and don’t win a game, your heart is going to be taken out again," Gassel said.

Had the team chosen to go forth with the season, it faced additional difficulties in maintaining a full playing schedule for 2007. Following Friday’s announcement, Ross had already been contacted by UMBC head coach Don Zimmerman with the news that he would have to cancel the teams' February 17 match-up.

“Any decision I make I always have to think about my team first,” Zimmerman said Tuesday afternoon. “With the fact that he [Coach Ross] is going to have a limited squad, the majority of the players that have left are probably his better players, we spoke and I just told him that we would cancel the game.”

In addition to the cancellation of the program and subsequent decision not to go forth with the season, there remains some residual anger among those associated with Butler lacrosse about how the situation was handled.

The news about the termination of the program spread quickly and left players and coaches with little time to digest the news. Ross found out the program was being cut at 2:15 p.m. last Friday. The team was notified at 3:00 p.m. and a press release on the program’s termination was out around 4 p.m.

”We asked [Collier] ‘Why not football? Why not other sports? Why us?,” said sophomore midfielder C.J. Ciravino. “That’s when he started diverting around the questions. He didn’t really give us a sound answer.”

Senior captain Brendan Flanagan said that players were crying and breaking down at a team meeting on Friday. He said he called his parents in tears after he found out the news.

It was especially difficult for him as a captain.

“It’s horrible,” he continued. “It’s a terrible feeling. I’ve worked. I’ve played lacrosse my whole life, finally being privileged to being captain of the team, to help my team and show my leadership and to have it all taken away from you .. it’s just so upsetting and I just don’t know. I want to be there for my teammates but it is just hard. It’s just a terrible feeling what is going through your body right now. You are used to staying strong and you can’t because you know how everyone feels.”

At that Friday meeting, players were told they would have to make a decision quickly if they wanted to play for another school this spring. The rest would have to scramble to find schools for the fall. To those intent on staying and playing for Butler, and those on the fence about the situation (22 players in all between the two groups, according to Gassel), Ross advised them to make the decision on a very personal level.

Looking beyond the confines of Friday's meeting, Ross’s class of 16 recruits for next fall will also have to find a new home.

But perhaps the biggest toll is on Ross himself, who has to deal with this situation, help find a new home for all of his players and incoming recruits, all while worrying about himself and his family.

“It’s very difficult. This is like a bomb has been dropped and all of a sudden you go into scramble mode. Coach Ross is a good coach but more importantly he is a terrific mentor and I know his kids care a lot about him,” said Zimmerman. “A lot of people have been set back, to say the least, by this, none more than Stan Ross. You know, he has a family and then all of a sudden his job and his program are being dropped and despite all of that he’s out there trying to take care of his kids, both the ones that are in the program and the ones that have committed.”

While the idea of carrying through with the 2007 season is no longer, Ross will remain under contract as the head men’s lacrosse coach through the end of July.

And 14 years of Butler lacrosse are officially put to bed.

Wow..that is just like our stuation was...but i guess we have a better SGA b/c we got our program back.