ANDERSON, Ind. (NewsLink)—When most coaches get the opportunity to take over a program, there is usually a program to take over.
The coach also isn’t typically just 24 years old.
Nonetheless, this is the situation fourth year Head Lacrosse Coach Jacob Ashton found himself in to start his career at Anderson University.
Before Ashton arrived, Anderson only featured a club lacrosse program at the small Christian college. Ashton was given one year to recruit a full team to compete in 2019. With a squad composed of mostly freshmen, the Ravens won their first game with only 11 players. Unfortunately, they then dropped the following 12 games.
Last year, they went 1-5 before the COVID-19 shutdown. Now with a full roster finally in place, Ashton hopes that his team is finally ready to make some noise in the Heartland Conference.
“We’re really young,” said Ashton. “We have only 35% of our roster just going into this year…has played college lacrosse. You know, so a lot of inexperience. So, I said, ‘We still have to work for it. We still have to earn it’.”
Ashton remains hopeful that there will be a season this year to work for. Until then he will continue to build his team on the rise.
