Feb. 20, 2023 — A special sort of win

In any athletic endeavor, you could have winners, losers, and infrequently, an unsatisfying draw. And infrequently, you could have completely different sorts of wins. There are anticipated wins, upsets, blowouts, and the “nearer than it ought to have been” win.

Yesterday, in Blacksburg, Va. and Dover, Del., two groups skilled one of many rarest sort of wins: the “program-defining” win. This type of win, normally a number of years right into a workforce’s historical past, tells the workforce and its supporters that the workforce is rising from embryo standing and could also be prepared for the next stage of competitors.

The Mercer Bears have made an NCAA Match the final 4 non-COVID years. However they haven’t crushed a High 10-ranked opponent since beginning the workforce in 2015. Too, they haven’t crushed a workforce from the ultra-powerful ACC. That’s, till yesterday’s 11-8 win over Virginia Tech. The Bears obtained 4 objectives from Shannon Urey, an attacking midfielder from Chattanooga Baylor College (Tenn.).

The opposite workforce with a attainable program-defining victory is the workforce that was Mercer’s first opponent as a Division I faculty. That workforce is Delaware State, which obtained a four-OT win over the Akron Zips. Delaware State, one of many few lacrosse groups enjoying out of an historically-Black establishment, is 2-0 on the season, one thing you possibly can by no means have stated about this Hornets program because it began in 2012.

“The Akron win was nice for our program and it’s good to be undefeated after two video games, however we’re all conscious that there’s loads of work to do to achieve our objectives for this season and past,” stated head coach Pam Jenkins.

Delaware State has been on a special battle from Mercer over time. Del State has by no means managed to win greater than three video games towards Division I opposition in a season. However the win over Akron might mild the contact paper on this program, giving them perception and confidence all through the remainder of the marketing campaign.