Mud? Check

"John Carroll's Alex Mezzanotte (No.4) attempts to strip the ball from Notre Dame Prep midfielder Kelsi Bozel (No.29) as she fires off a shot during the second half at Notre Dame Prep, Thursday afternoon. Notre Dame Prep won, 17-9."

When I was in college, I was always shooting lacrosse. This season, however, has been slow in regards of the fastest game on two-feet. I've been shooting a lot more news and feature stories, which I oddly enough actually like better than sports.

This was the first lacrosse game I shot this year and the weather was anything but a nice spring day. Spring it was, just not in a pleasant way.

All morning it dumped rain. It had briefly stopped during the afternoon and I was actually hoping for the rain to start up again.

Why? Because I like mud.

While we've all endured many inclement weather sporting matches, and while they tend to be an added pain, I actually enjoy another element, obstacle for the athletes.

There is nothing like a muddy pitch or a snow covered field to help create unexpected moments.

As for the rainiest game I've ever shot, that award goes to the Ravens Vs. Colts in 2007. I literally had no idea what I was shooting, couldn't review my images and was completly soaked. I am pretty sure my rain coat is still dripping in my closet from that game.

For this lacrosse game, I wanted to see mud covered players slipping all over the field. But to my dismay, everyone somehow kept their footing throughout the match. The pitch was drenched, but the players must have had some extended studs on their cleats.

While the rain did make for a slower paced game, by the second half Notre Dame Prep had run away with the game and I found myself taking pictures of umbrellas.

At one point, I had to shoot the only copy of the roster that the reporter was holding hostage so that I could later identify the girls in my images.

Now that I think about it, I should have posted that picture of him holding the soaked piece of paper. That was more telling of the game than the above. Ha. Oh, well.