One win away from playing for the State championship last season, Arlington’s lacrosse team is fast breaking toward a second title faceoff.
The Tigers are 7-2 after a 15-2 victory over Metro Nashville on Saturday in Arlington and ranked third in the state in Class 2.
The team that defeated them last year in the State semifinals, Soddy-Daisy, is second. Murfreesboro is No. 1.
“The goal is to win the State championship,” said senior midfielder/attacker Lane Chapman.
That will be played the third week of May at Nolensville High School. Midfielder Josh Kee, a senior, said, “My inspiration is how close we got last year. We want to go back and get revenge.”
In his third season, Head Coach Jarred Coleman resurrected the program. In 2017 the Tigers were 2-10 and made a historic reversal to 10-2 in 2018.
“Hats off to Jarred Coleman,” said senior defender Tyler Jones. “He completely turned it around, getting his footing here and seeing what he is working with.”
Kee called it the most exciting lacrosse experience he has had so far.
Coleman said, “I did not turn the program around, the boys did. They put in the work and make the plays. They are a talented team and always have been. The keys to success this year is play our game, don’t get complacent and don’t doubt our ability. If we do those things we are hard to beat.”
A 14-2 victory over Lausanne on March 25 was a season turning point.
“We actually pulled it together,” Chapman said. “We weren’t playing as a team the first half of the season. Once we hit Lausanne, we started to work together to get our looks and made it to where our defense was communicating more and actually running through their defense. When we are able to come together, we do a lot of good things. It is exciting that our team is doing as well as we are.”
A 17-4 loss to Evangelical Christian School was a wake-up call, Kee said. “It wasn’t a good showing for us. We knew we were going to have to get together to win state.”
The top six teams will battle for the State championship. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams have byes. No. 3 plays No. 6 and No. 4 plays No. 5. The No. 1 team chooses which team from the two quarterfinal winners it will play in the semifinals, with the No. 2 team playing the other.
“The strengths of our team are how well we work together. Our lines are specifically picked for certain people to work together,” said Kee.
Chapman said, “Our dodge-heavy guys are usually on the same line. Josh and I are on the same midfield line because I am the main initiator and he knows very well how I play. We have a player, Conor Koesterman, who knows how I play. We have a lot of chemistry with us three so we can run through our offense and get goals that way.”
Chapman, Kee, Jones, defender Alex Taylor (a senior) and Eric Nelson (a junior) are captains.
“All the seniors and a few juniors are all leaders on the team,” said Coleman. “This year is similar to last year other than we have been there before. Now it isn’t all a new rush.”
Chapman’s rush is his love for the sport. “It’s a fun sport. It’s something that I get to do that lets me be me out here on the field. You get to be really creative with the way you play. It’s another form of expression.”
He has a scholarship to play at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky.
Coleman was a defender at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colo., playing on 2014-2016 teams.
Jones, who will play at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., commented, “He knows the vibe of college lacrosse so he has helped us a lot preparing us for college. He knows we are definitely committed to that.”
His mother, Mary Jones, is a Hendrix graduate and wanted him to visit the school.
He said, “I wasn’t thinking I would play lacrosse in college, then I mentioned it to the coach. He gave me a full tour of the facilities and introduced me to a bunch of the team. They were so welcoming. It is kind of a cliché but it felt like home. It felt like I needed to be there.”
Hendrix College is recruiting Kee.
Jones began playing his sophomore season. “It’s such a dynamic sport. It puts so many sports that I have played into one – basketball, football, the concepts of soccer. I love the combination of it all. It felt like a brotherhood. These are my brothers out here playing a sport that I love.”
It is a sport that combines physical and mental strength.
Kee said, “You can’t just out-body someone. You have to think and outsmart defenders too.”
Chapman said, “It is a lot harder to catch a ball in a stick that is 3 inches wide than catch a pass with your hands or swim across a pool. It is the hardest sport around. If it’s not, then it would be hockey.”
It is one hour of running that can make it “difficult to play in the fourth quarter so you have to get your mind in check,” said Kee.
There is a six-minute halftime break and three minute intervals between each of the four 12-minute quarters.
Jones said, “Coming to practice you have to stay involved, stay in shape. We do 6- on- 6 scrimmages. You are giving your full effort like basically playing a game. That keeps you in shape a lot.”
Kee said, “No days off. You are continually running in practice, weekends.”
He is in student government and said many people don’t know what lacrosse is when he mentions it at conventions. It is a sport that is more popular on the West and East coasts, with interest growing in Western states such as Utah and Colorado.
Chapman was selected to play for a Colorado elite team that represented the Fellowship of Christian Athletes last year at a national tournament in Tampa, Fla. College scouts were in attendance. Players from around the nation played for the team, which had one practice before the tournament.
“FCA was a great experience and it helped me learn the game and improve on what I wanted. It allowed me to become a better college prospect,” said Chapman, who writes on tape for his gloves and helmet the Bible verse Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who gives me strength.”
He continued, “My faith is what drives me to be the best I possibly can and it has helped me through a lot.”
While playing, Jones wears a cross that was melted from the wedding ring of his late grandfather, Morgan Glenn Jones.
“I have grown up in church. I give everything to God. Without the Lord I don’t know where I would be,” said Jones, who is an active member at First Baptist Church in Millington.
Lacrosse has provided its share of lighthearted and serious moments.
Chapman was covering a midfielder in a recent practice who put a good move on him.
“I almost fell. I am not going to lie. He crossed me up pretty good. When you get crossed up you get pretty embarrassed or when you get shot around,” he said.
In one of his first games his sophomore season, Jones got hit in the throat against Briarcrest playing defense.
“I ran over to the sidelines, got on my knees because I was hurting and kind of blacked out,” he said. “I couldn’t see. They called the EMTs. I ended up pushing through and I played the second half. That was a funny moment we still talk about to this day.”
After the scheduled regular-season games against Bartlett on April 24 and Lausanne on April 26, postseason will start.
The Tigers have played against Division-I teams. The divisions are based on the size of the program and how long it has been established. Larger schools are in Division-I.
Along with Arlington, Shelby-Metro teams that play lacrosse are Bartlett, Briarcrest Christian School, Christian Brothers, Collierville, Evangelical Christian, Houston, Lausanne, Memphis University School, St. Benedict and St. George’s.
There are 32 players on the Tigers roster, including Sam Afaneh, Zack Anderson, Jalen Barker, Cayden Bush, Cody Carlisle, Noah Davis, Carlo DiGiovanni, Colton Drissel, Holton Foote, Brennen Friers, Drew Gallaher, Gabe Harber, Gabe Haynes, James Hudson, Brandon Jordan, Conor Koesterman, Matt Legge, Issac Luna, Aaron Moser, Nate Parimore, Ben Pyron, Gerrett Robinson, Aiden Rosendahl, Sam Sereci, C.J. (Clarence) Tyler, Jonathan White, and Landon Zachry.
Each has a shot at winning a team award or “if you have a really good season, you have a chance to be an all-star,” said Chapman.
