Between The Walls Of FEN
Ethan Barangan
Ethan Barangan is a senior faceoff specialist from Plainfield, Illinois. He recently received his post assignment to Fort Carson (Colorado) and branched military intelligence (infantry detail).
Army lacrosse fans and family, welcome to the first of many blog posts from your favorite backup to the backup faceoff specialist. I don’t think it’s more on brand of myself to be a little late to get a kickstart to this season’s blog posts because of homework. The season starts a few weeks before spring break, which is when my instructors think they are Aaron Donald and treat me like Joe Burrow. Now that the problem sets and WPRs (Written Partial Review) are finished, I can finally give you all the inside look into the 2022 Army Men’s Lacrosse team.
Preseason:
The fellas rang in the new year with goal setting and getting our minds right for the season. The first three-day weekend in January was not spent exploring the wonders of Long Island like normal, but at Mirror Lake in Milan, N.Y. As a team, we got to spend the weekend deep diving into where we needed to grow as a team, what are our goals for the season, and how we were going to accomplish them. Through quality conversations, competitive Family Feud, and getting to sling a couple of dodgeballs at Coach Kyle Georgalas, the fellas emerged from the weekend hungry for another color jersey and with our motto set: At the Table or On the Menu.
The dawgs were fed at Penn State and St. Joseph in the following weeks. Jackson Tyler and yours truly were able to support from the sideline while part-time player-coach, Robocop Jack Weigand helped make sure our new faces on defense Deacon Donaldson, Bryan Lehman, and AJ Pilate got the kinks out.
It’s always nice to see a full fan section at these scrimmages. Usually, it’s encouraging, but for Matt Horace, a little distracting who got numerous “Hey 52” from a few local fans while getting a ground ball from the sideline. Must be so hard for him, sorry Matt.
UMass for 1:
QB1 Brendan Nichtern decided to show how hard work with his Xbox controller has paid off in the off-season to tally 8 points.
Jedi Master Wyatt Schupler showed us his well-known skill of placing force fields in front of the cage to get a career-high of 18 saves.
The softest hands east of the Mississippi River, Reese Burek, got us 3 points.
Captain America aka “Danny Kielbasa” decided to show how he’s not just a good guy off the field but on the field as well, with 3 assists.
A 14-13 victory for the fellas, a handshake and a coin from Chief of Staff of the Army General James C. McConville, and some disco beats from DJ Steve Grabher on the locker room aux closed out the week on a high note.
Rutgers for 2:
Yeah, tough one.
Siena for 2:
Mid-week games are a challenging change to routine for the fellas. Luke Hickam had to cut back on a couple of mess hall cookies. Donald Mazur did not get to work on his Greek-god physique in the Kimsey weight room. Gunner Philipp still facetimed his fiancé though, can never do enough wedding planning.
The game was like trying to start Matt Horace’s car after a cold week sitting in F Lot. Took a while for the engine to get running, but the fellas started to connect the dots in the 3rd quarter.
Not sure who had a better day, Brendan Nichtern with 10 points, or the king of the Dawg Pound, Patrick Dunleavy.
Feel free to check out the Army Men’s Lacrosse Twitter page @ArmyWP_MLax to hear some after-game thoughts from Coach Alberici and Brendan Nichtern.
.@ArmyLaxCoach talked about the win over Siena, what adjustments were made to score 16 goals in the second half and Nichtern’s day. #GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/T6CyTAOL7R
— Army M.Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) February 23, 2022
Brendan Nichtern finished with a career-high ?? points and gave his thoughts following a 20-10 win over Siena.#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/RMWep9IOrS
— Army M.Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) February 23, 2022
NJIT for 3:
For those of you who remember your days standing on the sideline during a February game in Michie Stadium, it was exactly how you remembered: 20 degrees, wind, diehard Army lacrosse fans, and Coach Alberici wearing that one long-sleeve sweater that he wore during your game as well.
A solid win with many of the fellas got on the stat sheet, 16 to be exact. Even senior LSM Brent Hauck got two shifts: one which he got scored on and the other he caused a penalty. Covering his entire back in tattoos might not have been the lucky charm he was looking for. Brent still has a charming chin though. His chin goes by the name of Francis, who is a great friend to Bo Waters and Tyler Olbrich.
Again, feel free to check out the Army Men’s Lacrosse Twitter page @ArmyWP_MLax to hear some after-game thoughts from Coach Alberici and senior Aidan Byrnes.
Postgame comments from Aidan Byrnes, who scored a season-high four goals to lead all goal scorers, and @ArmyLaxCoach about the win over NJIT. #GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/ZEtZ7Snc09
— Army M.Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) February 26, 2022
???from the win over NJIT??#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/2vuyvr6oYM
— Army M.Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) February 27, 2022
I’m glad we are all now up to speed on the season. Can’t wait for the next blog post. Who knows what I’ll want to write about? Till then, hopefully, I’ll see you all this Wednesday in the Carrier Dome. If not, tune into ACCN to watch us live.
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