With two games down, how are you guys feeling about the season so far?

Thomas Cool: Pretty good. Last year we struggled to get things going offensively, but our defense looked pretty good. But this year we have Connor back and a bunch of freshmen, so our attack is looking a lot better.

Connor Jackson: Our team is way more close this year, and it’s nice to have a full roster, definitely. Even though we are young, with so many freshmen, everyone has played for a number of years, so our lacrosse IQ and experience is a lot better.

Matt Rogers: We are a really tight team this year; we’re really close. We hate losing. We really hate losing, more than we like winning, probably. So we’re just going to go out and bust it every time so we can win and make Oberlin lacrosse a national brand.

Where does that “tightness” come from?

CJ: It’s definitely brought about by our senior and junior class, who have been around our team as it begins to shape into something that is going to be a brand name on a national scale. A lot of the problems in past years have occurred due to a separation among our teammates acting as individuals. But we have set a precedent and a standard, and the underclassmen have a large group to look up to and follow that lead.

TC: One of the driving things is that we can have a good time with each other, but if it’s Friday morning practice, we know that we will work just as hard.

MR: We have an “us against the world” mentality, and we have a chip now, and it’s our job to win on a large scale.

With that closeness, have you guys established any team traditions?

MR: We have the hard hat. Every week, whoever ‘brings it’ to practice receives the hard hat, and it symbolizes who worked the hardest that week. We also have a “big play belt.” Whoever makes the best play that week gets it.

CJ: There are the traditions, too, that don’t need to go into the paper.

MR: There is classified information about the hard hat.

TC: Well, everyone knows that can only mean one thing.

What is it like to be on the same team and living together?

TC: It’s pretty easy living. If we have an early practice or something, it makes it easier to get up if you know that your roommates will too. If one of us sleeps past their alarm, the others can wake us up.

So who is the one that you guys always have to wake up?

CJ: It rotates.

TC: I’m not going to lie; I wake them up all the time.

MR: Yeah, and I’m pissed off every time I get woken up.

TC: The first five words out of my mouth every early practice morning are a string of expletives.

CJ: I love it. These guys have made me enjoy Oberlin the most.

Do you cook together?

CJ: We do… it ranges, our meals.

MR: Our fourth housemate,“BigRob,”is a good cook. But we can make pasta and cereal.

TC: I’ve been getting good at making grilled cheese.

MR: And Ramen noodles.

CJ: But when we have a BBQ, we can do a lot more.

TC: Yeah, we need to get our grills back from S&S.

What is the biggest pet peeve you have about living together?

MR: Sometimes Connor takes really long showers. It makes me question things. CJ: I do take long showers. There’s only one bathroom, so that’s probably the biggest problem. Sometimes you just want to pee before you go to class, but someone’s in there taking a shower, and they locked the door. It’s just like, ‘Come on man, I gotta go!’

TC: My pet peeve is that whenever Rogers wants to play me in FIFA, he always has to rub it in my face if he wins. Let the record show that I have been improving my game and have been locking it down on defense.

Do you guys cuddle?

TC: Yes. No.
CJ: Absolutely not.