After a long absence, the Gustavus men’s lacrosse team returned home to Hollingsworth Field to play in front of friends and family for the first time this school year. The club team hosted Minnesota State University Moorhead, University of North Dakota and Ripon College of Wisc. for a two-day tournament that took place on Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15.

The Gusties put on quite a show, taking home two victories against Moorhead and Ripon College and falling just short to University of North Dakota.

The action kicked off Saturday morning as the Gusties took on Minnesota State University Moorhead. After a slow start and some back-and-forth play, Gustavus was able to gain momentum and take control of the game in the fourth quarter. In a strong team effort, a number of Gusties were able to find the back of the net to finish with a 7-5 victory over the Moorhead Dragons.

“Scoring is really balanced this season, we don’t have to rely on a couple of kids to score all of the goals,” Coach Luke Nord said.

Gustavus carried the momentum from the morning straight into their second game Saturday afternoon against Ripon College. The Gusties took advantage of the Red Hawks’s small roster to put up goals early and gain a decisive lead.

Despite the disparity in the talent of the two teams, Gustavus remained focused and brought their A-game.

“We didn’t play down to their level,” Junior Goaltender Eric Larson said. “We played like how we’d been practicing and it paid off.”

The Gusties remained a force to be reckoned with throughout the match, putting in 11 goals and helping Larson achieve his first collegiate shutout for a final score of 11-0.

After a brief night to rest up, the team took the field Sunday morning to face off against the University of North Dakota. Even with little recovery time and the loss of Captain Scott Sahli due to injury, the Gusties fought a hard match against the Sioux.

A series of fast-break goals and the support of the fans helped Gustavus keep the pressure on North Dakota throughout the game.

“We really relish the time to play at home in front of our fans,” Nord said. “The home field really energized us.”

In the end their best efforts weren’t enough to top the Sioux, who walked away with an 8-6 victory.

Overall Nord considered the weekend a great success. “The hard work and long hours we put in are paying off. We really came out and put a lot of good games together,” Nord said.

With more players out for the team than ever before, men’s lacrosse has used this year to grow both on the field and off.

“New players are stepping up and doing their part. We’ve also become a lot more organized. The captains are doing a good job of running practice and we’re working well as a unit,” Larson said.

The team looks to use the momentum and energy gained from the home tournament to propel them into the rest of the season.

They travel to Wisconsin to take on UW-Stout on Saturday, April 21 and UW-Lacrosse on Sunday, April 22.