The AACC women’s 2015 lacrosse season ended early due to scheduling issues from the winter weather and concern for player safety.

On Mar 23, head coach Jim Griffiths gathered his team in a classroom to break the news that the remainder of the season had been cancelled.

“Total shock,” sophomore Jordan Huften said about the move. “I did not see that coming at all.”

Short-handed to begin with, the team suffered an injury and illness after last week’s win against Herkimer College. The recent blast of winter weather further complicated the issue. Coach Griffiths explained that, although a tough decision, it was made out of concern for the safety of the players.

“We had two make-ups we were still trying to make up…due to snow. When I looked at the schedule of the teams we needed to reschedule with and our schedule, it would have put us in a situation where we had to play seven or eight games in 14 to 15 days,” Griffiths said, “and there was no way. And that’s assuming everyone stays healthy during those games.”

Although the season has ended for the team, the players have the ability to petition the National Junior College Athletics Association to get their eligibility back for the season, since they only completed 20 percent of the schedule.

“That’s not the reason we folded,” Griffiths said. “It’s a benefit to folding, but it had nothing to do with the decision. If we would have had nine or ten healthy players, we would have continued.”

Most of the squad has yet to decide what their plans for next season will be. Sophomore Huften will be transferring next semester and is confident the loss of this year will not hurt.

“If it does, I can petition to get this year back,” Huften said. “But, it shouldn’t affect my eligibility.”

After going to the regionals four of the last five seasons, and two of their first three games, the coaching staff and players believed they could be competitive, even short-handed. But as the weather began to back up the schedule and the squad suffered injuries, player safety became the main factor in the decision, coach Griffiths said.

“It’s disappointing, to say the least,” Griffiths said. “Playing eight games in 15 days with nine [players] would have been insane, it would have been a recipe for an injury, I think.”

The move to cancel the season has not affected plans for next year and will not affect recruiting or scholarships, but both players and coaches are still coming to terms with their season being cut short.

“Honestly, the last week has been kind of spent coming to terms with the reality of the season being over,” Griffiths said. “I guess the one word I would use, would be sort of surreal.”