Today’s Game of the Day
East Lansing (Mich.) at Okemos (Mich.)
Not to be outdone by yesterday’s game in Michigan, long-time powerhouse Okemos, after losing their first two of the season, is looking to vault over the .500 mark against East Lansing.
Lancaster, Pa. is a place with verdant pastures, gray two-lane roadways that lead past wispy meadows, the occasional black buggy of an Old Order Amish family, and a sense of calm.
But on the western edge of town, it’s alleged that an ugly incident occurred a year ago, involving up to 11 members of the current Franklin & Marshall women’s lacrosse roster. After an investigation of alleged hazing of underclasswomen on the team, the university administration came down.
Hard.
Those 11 players, including eight of nine members of the current senior class — including two players who were captains as juniors — have been suspended from the team, although they are still enrolled at F&M.
The entire coaching staff — head coach Lauren Paul, and assistants Caitlin Powderly and Lidia Sanza — have been removed from the team’s webpage.
As a two-time NCAA champion (2007 and 2009), this throws an enormous spanner in the Division III works. The Diplomats were going to challenge the likes of Salisbury for NCAA supremacy again, and they had plenty of talent to pull it off.
Think of it: the team had players from a number of the best programs in the country including Owings Mills McDonogh (Md.). There are also familial connections: one of the suspended players has a sister on Northwestern’s roster, and the sister of one of the coaches plays at the University of Maryland.
That’s what makes this situation so tragic. I really thought that F&M was not the kind of environment for this sort of thing, especially with its women’s lacrosse team.
What also doesn’t make sense is that the university’s investigation into this incident took place with such lightning speed — about five or six days.
Perhaps that swiftness is an indicator.
We’ll keep tabs on this, believe me.
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