LINING THEM UP

Once again Coach Robert Pickett of the Freshman Lacrosse team is faced with the age-old problem: that is, building a winning team out of players, the majority of whom have never seen a lacrosse stick before. To date, Pickett's warriors have a .500 record; but a 7-6 squeaker over MIT cannot offset a 20-1 holocaust at the hands of a powerful Deerfield Academy team.

The Yardlings chief problem is their lack of depth. Despite one of the largest turnouts for the sport in recent years, only thirteen of the forty who came out have had previous experience. These thirteen form the greater part of the starting lineup and first line substitutes.

On the starting ten, the attackmen, Dick Pille, John Neary, and Dick Eldridge have all played the game before as have the mid-fieldmen, Manuel Cabral, Jerry Pyle, and Mike Edwards. Two of the defensemen, Bob Fallon and Dave Stockwell are experienced but the third, John Grogan is a newcomer to the sport. The goalie, Chris Stone, has also had no previous experience.

On the surface, the outlook for this lineup is not so black, but Pickett's problem lies in the fact that the rest of the squad are newcomers to the game. The Yardling's coach, however, is quite pleased with their progress. "They are coming along fine and some are showing signs of becoming excellent players," he said.

The team appears to be well-balanced, with no one outstanding star, although at the moment, the defense is shaping up more rapidly than the offense. Pickett attributes this to the lack of outside practice earlier in the spring, saying that the Massachussetts spring weather affected the offense much more adversely than the defense.

"Unless we can develop a more powerful offense," he said, "I am afraid we will not be able to improve on last year's record." Pickett placed particular emphasis on the lack of experienced players as the chief weakness of his stickmen. "We are a green team," he said.