Gamecocks club lacrosse earns back-to-back championships
COLUMBIA, S.C. (BVM) — Back-to-back is the goal for every team attempting to defend its title. The South Carolina Gamecocks club lacrosse team managed to accomplish this, despite a two-year gap where no championship tournament was played.
South Carolina beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 11-9 in the championship game to capture the program’s second title. From the start of the season, the Gamecocks were hungry to defend their national championship, even if the majority of the roster did not play in the 2019 championship season.
“We had some guys in the fall who just graduated, who helped coach us in the fall a little bit who were there, they told us, ‘You might lose some games, but just keep your heads down and keep working,’” sophomore defender Teddy Russel said. “They always said, ‘Winning it all, being national champion, there’s no better feeling.’ And I think that we all really wanted that feeling.”
Lacrosse at South Carolina took off during the 2018 season when the team saw its first taste of success. Led by head coach JD Harkey, the Gamecocks put together an undefeated regular season and advanced to the MCLA semifinals before losing to Chapman.
In 2019, the team saw some significant roster turnover, and the national media had written the team off.
“The following year was 2019 and we won it all, but that wasn’t the narrative going into the year,” Harkey said. “All the MCLA lacrosse commentators were talking about how we weren’t going to be the same team. We graduated a bunch of guys.”
Thanks to the foundation Harkey and his players had been building for years, the team blocked out the noise. Consistency of effort, focus and communication were all part of the team’s identity, allowing them to play their game to the best of their abilities when it came time to play for a national championship.
“A lot of things that you focus on throughout the course of the year,“ Harkey said. “Being focused on the practice field, being focused in the game, and communication, you know, being able to roll with the punches and, deal with whatever situation is presented by constantly communicating with each other on and off the field.”
Despite being an almost completely different team, these values are still present in the program.
In 2020, the team never got the opportunity to defend its title. The COVID-19 pandemic hit and the sports world shut down. The next year the team still felt the effects of the pandemic and was only able to compete in two games.
Fifth-year attackman Sam Weis played for both the 2019 and 2022 teams. Those two COVID seasons were difficult for him and the team, knowing they wouldn’t have the opportunity to win another championship.
“That year was tough because, those kids that were my age when I transferred here, we were always like, ‘Dude, when we’re seniors, we’re going to be so good,’ and we were like that team, that team probably would have won the national championship too,” Weis said. “So it was just really hard.”
Roster turnover and an abbreviated schedule weren’t the only adversities the team had to face. Harkey departed the program to move his family to Maryland and land a more stable job. The team needed to find a new coach.
Peter Candela was a former player for the Gamecocks from 2015-18 and an assistant coach for the team under Harkey after he graduated. Despite the lack of head coaching experience, Candela came in and got the team in championship form.
“First year as a coach, winning the national championship is pretty awesome,” Candela said. “We consistently said from the beginning, we’ve got a good group of guys, and as long as they’re working hard and putting in the effort, then we’ll shoot for success, how we want, and it’s kind of what we told the guys all season.”
The team struggled early on starting the season 3-3, including a loss to Georgia Tech.
“Obviously we had some trouble at the beginning of the year losing,” Weis said. “But everybody kept a level head.”
After the Georgia Tech loss, the Gamecocks would finish the regular season 7-0 and won the conference tournament, beating the Yellow Jackets in the championship.
The success stemmed from the connection the players built with each other and the coaching staff. The team practiced twice a week and spent just as much time together off the field as they did on the field.
“That was definitely one of, if not the closest group of guys that I’ve ever been a part with that team this year, like most teams, it may take some time for those guys to kind of create that chemistry,” Russell said. “But, you know, I think there’s a couple of moments of the season after some losses or key wins, the group would be together off the field and really bond.”
Heading into the MCLA tournament, the Gamecocks were again doubted. Critics said the team was too young and inexperienced to go all the way.
“People just always are underestimating our potential and our talent they’re like, ‘Oh, the new coach, it’s gonna hurt them that they lost so many people from last year, blah, blah, blah,” Weis said.
In their first game of the tournament, South Carolina cruised past Arizona 18-10. In the next round, the Gamecocks avenged an early-season loss by beating Liberty 11-9 in a close game that could have gone either way.
“I really, really thought we were going to lose that Liberty game for a second, but, once we won that, it was like, all right, we can turn it off when we need to turn it on, let’s just turn it on for a whole game and we’ll smack every team,” Weis said.
In the semifinal, the Gamecocks took care of business against BYU to advance to the national championship.
South Carolina took control of the game early, leading 8-3 at halftime. The team held off a late Georgia Tech comeback attempt and won 11-9. Weis finished the game with three goals and two assists. He was named MVP of the championship.
“It was just like pure satisfaction and fulfillment. I’m the kind of person where I’m literally, never satisfied with mediocracy or even just being above average,” Weis said. “I just couldn’t have drawn it up any better. Like that was just the best way to end my career.”
After two years of waiting and wondering what could have been, the Gamecocks proved they were still on top.
Some key players have graduated and will not return next year, including Weis. However, the Gamecocks feel they have the depth and the talent to three-peat.
“I think everyone is, myself included, super excited to get back out there as quick as we can in the fall,” Russell said, “and get back to it and keep working to get better in hopes of winning another one next year.”
