With a shaky start to the season, Coach McEvoy and the Friars hope to tie up loose ends as they move towards the heat of Inter-Ac play.

Four years have passed since Malvern won an Inter-Ac title for lacrosse. No member of this year’s team has yet to experience the thrill of winning the championship. However, with great senior depth and a new format as to how the league is played, the Friars have a good shot at bringing home an Inter-Ac championship.

Head Coach, John McEvoy described the start to the season as “inconsistent”.

“We have a couple good wins, especially our game against LaSalle,” McEvoy said, “but we have been struggling with our faceoffs. This is a big part because it gets you the ball. If we have the ball, we have a real good chance to win, but if they have the ball, they have a good chance to win.”

Because the Friars have struggled with their faceoffs, they have found themselves playing more defense than offense.

“In lacrosse, you can play make-it take-it all day,” McEvoy said. “One guy can really change the game a lot. We have won about 30% of our faceoffs, which is giving the other team a couple more goals and eliminating a couple more goals from us. We have to be really efficient.”

Despite the Friars’ struggles, dropping games to both The Episcopal Academy and The Haverford School, they can still bounce back and potentially win the Inter-Ac.

“We are used to playing every opponent twice,” McEvoy said, “and whoever had the best record at the end of the season won. But historically, there have been a lot of ties because of that. This year, we changed that. Now, we play everybody once, and when it is done, the records will create a seeding. Then, we will have a year-end playoff, that will be the third weekend of May. The first two seeds will have a bye, while the bottom four will play to get in the semifinals.”

Senior Jack Traynor, who is a Co-Captain for the Friars, still has confidence in this year’s team.

“6-4 does not sound good, but our team’s morale is high,” Traynor said. “If we don’t do great in the regular season and get a low seed, we still have a chance to make a run, which I love.”

Traynor has been on Malvern’s varsity lacrosse team since his freshman year, and he wants to make the most out of this season.

“This is my fourth year on the team, and every year has meant more and more to me. Now, it is my senior year, it is my last year putting on that jersey, so it is huge,” Traynor said.

Over the past four years, Traynor has developed great chemistry with fellow classmate and teammate senior Quinn McCahon.

“We know our different tendencies, especially offensively,” McCahon said. “We have been playing together since we were little kids, and it is nice to see us all grown up now in our senior seasons.”

Unlike Traynor, who focuses on the offensive end playing attack, McCahon is a midfielder. His responsibility on the field requires him to play solid offense and defense.

“[McCahon] is a ‘do everything’ type of guy,” McEvoy said. “He has a lot in his tool box.”

In addition to having strong stick skills, McCahon and Traynor have the untaught values that are needed to win games.

“It is very much grit and determination,” McEvoy said. “To win a game, you have to be able to make the simplest plays when it’s the hardest of times to make them.”

This describes what McEvoy calls the “it factor”.

“You need that drive, something that really comes from within,” Traynor said. “You can look at a guy and say, ‘he has it’ but you don’t really know what it is. But, you know it when you see it.”

This year’s team has a lot of talent, with a big senior class that is well experienced. As they continue to develop the “it factor” and work on every aspect of the game, McEvoy believes that they will be playing their best lacrosse three weeks from now when the Inter-Ac championship is on the line.