Freshman Matthew Hendricks (23) made a total of 56 saves in the first six games for Wabash College lacrosse this season.
Submitted photo
Certain athletic programs at Wabash College date back to the first half of the previous century.
Lacrosse isn’t one of them.
The school introduced the sport in 2015 and continues to build new tradition at a place steeped in it both academically and athletically. There have been losing records and some lopsided losses, but first-year coach Chris Burke remains confident there is a corner to be turned.
And sooner rather than later.
This season’s Little Giants roster includes four players from Johnson County — Center Grove graduates Max Fricke and Matthew Hendrick and Greenwood residents Dylan Lewis and Brigham McGill, both of whom attended Roncalli.
“I’ve been playing since the seventh grade,” said Fricke, a junior. “One of my buddies in my neighborhood played lacrosse, and he recommended it to me. I played midfield in seventh grade, but played defense for the B team when I was an eighth-grader.
“I started primarily playing defense after that. I like it.”
Lacrosse is a sanctioned high school sport in fewer than half the states, its popularity most obvious in eastern locales such as Delaware, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. It remains a club sport in Indiana, though like soccer before it, it is slowly migrating west in terms of popularity.
Men’s lacrosse boasts a speed and physicality that appeals to athletes and spectators alike.
There are presently 71 Division I men’s lacrosse teams nationwide, 93 competing in Division II and 236 more representing Division III. Thirty-two NAIA programs exist as do 184 club teams — numbers that excite an easterner like Burke, a Virginia native who came to Wabash after four seasons as first assistant coach at Maryville University in St. Louis.
“The big challenge is trying to change the culture. I’m pretty sure I’m the fifth head coach since 2015,” Burke said. “Wabash College has a lot of traditions, cultures and something that draws students to that environment.
“I have kind of a blank canvas in that respect.”
Wabash College entered this season on the heels of seven consecutive losing campaigns and an overall record of 23-69. The numbers dip significantly (3-45) against opponents in the unforgiving North Coast Athletic Conference, widely recognized as one of the premier men’s lacrosse leagues in Division III.
Little Giants squads have won five games in a season three times (the 2016-17 and 2019 seasons) but never more. The current team takes a 3-4 record into its conference opener at home Saturday against Denison, a team that outscored the Little Giants 61-6 over two games a year ago.
“Having a winning season would be amazing,” said Hendricks, the team’s freshman goalie who totaled 56 saves in the team’s first six matches. “But the main goal is to set a foundation and beat some of the team’s we’ve never beaten before.”
Roncalli alums Lewis, and junior, and McGill, a sophomore, play defense and midfield, respectively.
Hendricks, meanwhile, enjoys the challenges he faces as the starting goalie.
“You definitely have to be a little crazy,” Hendricks said, laughing. “For me personally, stopping shots in a game gives me so much adrenaline. It boosts the team morale, and that gives me a huge rush knowing I helped our team.
“The best part is being able to bail out our defense, and the niche-ness of the sport.”
In a perfect world, the Little Giants’ roster would include between 45-50 players in order for Burke to conduct full practices while building the type of depth necessary playing such a difficult schedule year in and year out.
At the moment, it numbers 21. Moreover, only 18 Little Giants players were available on Saturday during a 23-4 home loss to Adrian.
Burke’s goal is to convince this state’s talented high school players that playing lacrosse in a quality D-III conference has advantages over playing for club programs at either Indiana or Purdue. Central Indiana high schools remain a recruiting priority, as do northern high schools such as Crown Point, Chesterton and South Bend St. Joseph.
Eventually, Burke knows, the numbers will elevate — in players, as well as wins.
“It builds off of hard work and believing what are goals are,” Burke said. “It’s having accountability, having a purpose in everything we do and hard work. Always going full speed.”
