Lacrosse is one of the nation’s first sports, as it is often stated that the Native Americans created the game hundreds of years ago. The largest presence of lacrosse is on the East Coast and it only has been recently making its way into the Midwest and West Coast. With 92 teams in Illinois, lacrosse is finally making progress in the Midwest.

It’s o surprise, then, that the sport recently has grown very popular among local high school students. That has been the case at Mount Carmel, where the first team was organized in 2010.  Since then, Caravan Lacrosse has developed each year, and under Coach Eric Lindeman, recently finished the 2016 regular season with the best record in school history, 14-1.

A big factor in the team’s success in 2016 was the 5-0 start that the Caravan enjoyed to before losing their first game of the year to St. Rita by a score of 12-5. However the Caravan regrouped from that loss to finish the year without another loss. The season was highlighted with a rare 19-15 win over the Marist Redhawks and a come-back victory by over 7 goals against Whitney Young.

The Caravan celebrated senior night on May 16 just prior to the match against Brother Rice game. Before celebrating their careers, the seniors led the way as the team took care of the Crusaders, 20-3.

Team captain Tom Moehle ’16 had been waiting for this dream season for three years. “It feels really good that we are finally making history here at MC.”  The success didn’t come without work, as the  team’s season started long before the first game in March. Off-season workouts that included lifting weights after school and coming to school on Sundays to complete indoor drills.

As with any sport, lacrosse has its own jargon, and if you didn’t play the sport, it’s probably unfamiliar. So, here’s a quick guide to the game:

“Attack men” can only stay on the offensive side of the field. “Midfielders” can roam wherever they want. “Defense” stays on the side of the field closest to its own goal, but these players use 6 foot sticks with mesh “heads,” while all the other players use 3 foot sticks. At the start of the game, the refs place a ball in the center of the field and two opposing players “face-off” against each other. Most high school teams also put an “LSM” on the field. LSM means “Long stick middie.”

For the Caravan, the starting attack men in 2016 were Ben Staubus ’17, Liam Madrigal ’18, and Tom Moehle ’16. The midfield featured Nik Kubik ’17, Noah Swisshelm ’17, and Luke Lockard ’18, while defensive starters included Joe Facault ’16, Jordan Richardson ’16, and Jack Lockard ’17.  The team’s starting goalie is Anthony (Boomer) Kubik ’19.  With so many underclassmen filling starting positions last year, the Caravan should return a strong team in 2017.