(Photo by Lance Wendt)

DURANGO, Colo.— The senior class of 2020 had their season stolen from them.

For reasons outside of their control, they will never be able to pursue goals for which they worked so hard.

As part of a recurring segment for the remainder of this spring, coaches have the opportunity to thank their seniors one last time.

Continuing the series is Fort Lewis coach Tom Mudrak honoring his three seniors.

#24 Colin O'Gorman, Long-stick Midfield
Carbondale, Colo. (Roaring Fork)

#23 Ryan Dorsey, Defense
Lakewood Ranch, Colo. (Green Mountain)

It has been a tough four years since I took over coaching the Fort Lewis College men’s lacrosse team.

Our largest roster consisted of 16 guys, we lost a lot of lacrosse games, and struggled to compete in a lot of those games. But ever since the first practice I came out to in Durango back in 2016, Colin O’Gorman and Ryan Dorsey have been there.

Colin, a lefty LSM, with flashy stick-handling skills. Ryan, a do-it-all defender who played every position on the field at Fort Lewis except goalie -- I couldn’t convince him to do that.

Every 6 a.m., every team meeting, every fundraiser or tabling event; these guys were there, and they deserved for their senior season to go differently.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t in the cards as both guys will be graduating next week and moving on to the next stage in life.

This program probably wouldn’t exist right now without these two guys, and as a coach, you can’t ask for better leaders and teammates than these two.

Both have been captains, officers for the club and role models for our younger players. I can’t thank them enough for being those guys for us the last four years.

We will have very big shoes to fill in every aspect of the team next year with Colin and Ryan gone, and I hope we have some guys who can live up to the example these two set, but I’ll tell everyone right now, that will be our biggest challenge coming into next year.

I’m not sure what the outcome of this shutdown will be, but there is a lot of reflection going on and a lot of lessons to be learned from this.

This season has taught us more than ever to live every day like its your last, play every game or practice like you’ll never get to play again, and appreciate the time you have with friends.

Thank you, Colin and Ryan for everything, your coaches and teammates appreciate and love you.