Hello everyone, my name is Zach Palmer and I am a senior attackman for the Johns Hopkins Men’s Lacrosse Team. Each week I am going to write and give the “inside scoop” on what’s going on throughout the week and how the games go; sort of a behind the scenes insight.
We started the season off on a great note in beating a hungry Siena team in our home opener on Homewood Field. We then had to turn around and have a full week of practice before heading into play a tough Towson team. So we started off our week with our usual “Marathon Monday” practice. Always a tough and up-tempo practice, but it is necessary as it sets the tone for the rest of the week. After a couple tough practices, the practices are toned down a little bit towards the end of the week to make sure that we are fresh for our weekend games.
When Friday rolls around all the game plans are in for the team at hand. In particular, this week, we received our scouting reports early in the week as usual and throughout the week worked on certain aspects of the game that could help us in beating Towson. The scouting reports are detailed descriptions of each player on the opposing team, their weaknesses, strengths, and what we are going to do to exploit or shut down a particular player. A lot of time and effort gets put in by the players and the coaches throughout the middle of the week until Friday rolls around when we do a little team bonding, and more importantly have a delicious dinner on coach’s tab.
So Friday night we headed over to Sammi’s restaurant after a pregame practice. If you ever want to have some high quality Italian food in the Baltimore area, you need to give this place a chance. A few of the older guys on the team have their own cars, so rides down to the restaurant are always a race to find a ride. I was able to hitch a ride down with Lee Coppersmith, who also happens to be 1 of my 4 roommates, and one of the people I sit beside at the restaurant along with John Kaestner. The delicious dinner consists of chicken parm, meatballs, some pasta, and my personal favorite, the tortellini. I have claimed a spot at the bar seating of the restaurant, which always results in a little more food then other tables and an interesting conversation.
We then made our way back to our house to relax the night before our game. Usually the night before consists of a lot of Call Of Duty “Zombies”, but we changed it up this week and watched the movie “End of Watch”. Great pick for a night before movie, but the ending was a tad disappointing. Watched a little more film on the Towson defense and goalie before heading to bed.
Woke up around 10 Saturday morning, and decided on Quiznos for my pregame meal, while I watched some Workaholics. We then made our way up to the Cordish Lacrosse Center where the bus was waiting for us to head to the game. Normally, we would head over to the opponents field, head into their locker room, and dress normally for the game. This situation was a little different, Towson decided to paint all of their visiting locker rooms pink with the hopes of making the teams less aggressive. So in turn we didn’t step foot in the locker room before the game, instead dressing in the hallways. Before we knew it, it was game time. !2-6 win for the Jays and a 2-0 record on the season. Bring on the Wolverines. #greatdaytobeajay
