La Salle’s Thursday night lights

By Mike McDonald
Collegian Editor
September 13, 2006

On Thursday, Aug. 31, the Explorer football season opened up. There have been other football seasons at La Salle, but this time there was something in the air that had not been there before.

The fan support at the football games has been much better than in previous seasons.
Photo taken by Sara Allen

This something was excitement.

The brand new lights and surface at McCarthy Stadium created a buzz that had people all over campus talking about Explorer football.

In the past, most students had chosen to spend their Saturday afternoons watching the big-time games on television instead of coming out to McCarthy Stadium to watch the Explorers play. Sophomore Mark Howell said, “Before, I didn’t go to the La Salle games on Saturdays because I would rather watch Pitt play on TV, but now it’s more exciting to go.”

On that Thursday night, the students came out in droves. There was a great crowd on hand to watch the Explorers take on the Wagner Seahawks. Wagner is a team that the Explorers have played before, but people were much more interested in the matchup this time.

Sophomore Joe Quintiliani said, “It was great to see a La Salle football game under the lights with such a good showing from the student body."

The excitement comes because this is the beginning of a new era for La Salle football. A new coaching staff, a new offense and of course, a new field, have gotten people interested.

The new lights have turned attending a school football game from a pastime into an event. Sophomore Caitlin Harding said, “I never went to a game before they put in the lights, but now I go to the night games.”

At the coin toss, sophomore Preston Plevretes’ introduction drew an ovation from the Explorer fans. His story is one that the whole student body has followed closely, and it was great to see that he has been making progress with his recovery.

Once the game got started, though, the excitement in the stands seemed to die down as the team struggled on the field. Wagner is a good team, but the rout they put on the Explorers was not the outcome everyone was looking for.

The blowout on opening night seemed to affect the crowd that came out for the second game, as there appeared to be a much smaller turnout on Sept. 8 for the TCNJ game than there had been on Aug. 31 for Wagner.

As the game progressed into a pretty good battle, though, the crowd seemed to fill in nicely, and the fans were really getting into it as the team tried to complete the comeback. TCNJ held on, and the Explorers dropped to 0-2. But the fans that were there saw an entertaining game, particularly in the fourth quarter.

No one is expecting the football team to create the excitement that the basketball team has, but it is certainly nice to see people interested in the games. This change is one that the school must be happy to see as well.

Time will tell if the lights can keep people coming out to watch the games, especially if the team continues to struggle. But for that opening game, the excitement and the prime-time atmosphere were definitely there.

mcdonaldm2@lasalle.edu