Bonesville: The Authoritative Independent Voice of East Carolina

News & Features from ECU, the AAC and Beyond

  • Home
  • News & Features
  • Recruiting
  • Photos
  • Audio
  • Roundup
  • Comments
  • Legacy Archives

• ECU 2021-22 Hoops Schedule
• ECU 2022 Baseball Schedule
• ECU 2022 Football Schedule
• Recruiting: Football • Hoops

The Bradsher Beat
ECU lacrosse team finds an elder in Cheripko

March 29, 2018 By Bethany Bradsher Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

It could have been just another night taking orders and serving food at Totopo’s, except for the fact that Morgan Cheripko is the type of server who likes to get to know her customers a bit. And the conversation she struck up on that particular night last year helped transform Cheripko from a typical working student to a pioneering East Carolina student-athlete.

One of the tables in her section was filled with young women wearing Pirate athletic gear, and they looked young enough that Cheripko assumed they were athletes. A one-time college athlete herself, she asked them what sport they played.

“We’re actually the lacrosse coaches,” one of the women answered.

That in itself was a happy coincidence, since Cheripko had played lacrosse in high school in Maryland and as a freshman at the University of Tampa. She told them a bit about her lax resume, and they encouraged her to come to the August tryouts for the inaugural ECU lacrosse program.

Cheripko enjoyed her chance encounter with the coaching staff, but she didn’t initially think the tryouts were a good idea. After all, she told herself, she hadn’t played competitive lacrosse in close to two years, trying the ECU club team briefly after she transferred as a sophomore and quitting to focus on her schoolwork in exercise physiology.

She was sure she was too rusty to make a college squad.

Her sister Taylor, who is a year older and the reason Morgan decided to transfer to ECU, had other ideas, and she gave her younger sister a pep talk and nudged her out the door to Johnson Stadium that hot summer day.

“I owe it to my sister, she was the one who gave me the pep talk letting me know I could do it,” she said. “The coaches, they gave me this opportunity and I couldn’t be more thankful. I didn’t know how much I missed lacrosse until I was back out on this field.”

Story continues after the following picture…

Morgan Cheripko in action earlier this season. (ECU Media Relations photo)

Of course, Cheripko made the team, and in this first-ever ECU lacrosse season she is the only senior, sharing the roster with 23 freshmen, three sophomores and one junior. As the elder of the group, she has filled a valuable role as a guide for the younger players, especially those experiencing college for the first time.

But Cheripko’s knowledge extends far past how to sell back textbooks or where to eat near campus. She also understands exactly what it’s like to be a freshman on a brand-new team, because she has done it before.

At the University of Tampa, she led Division II in total draw controls (155) and draw controls per game (9.2) and scored a team-high 38 goals as part of a brand-new lacrosse program.

Despite her success there, she realized that she needed to go to a school that offered exercise physiology, and since her sister was at East Carolina it was an obvious choice. What was less obvious was the possibility that she could blaze a lacrosse trail twice.

“It’s really different going from being a freshman on an inaugural team to now being a senior on an inaugural team,” she said. “But it’s nice because I knew what it was like to be a freshman on such a team, and I was able to pass that experience down to them.”

A look at her family’s athletic pedigree makes Cheripko’s unique college lacrosse trajectory less surprising. She comes from a rich heritage of collegiate athletics, including her sister Brooke, a four-time national champion for the University of Louisville cheerleading squad, and three football players — her brother Drew (Towson), her cousin Patrick Lazar (West Virginia) and her father Darrell (Yougstown State.)

She might have been unsure about her ability to compete after such a long break from lacrosse, but Cheripko has been a valuable and consistent contributor to the 2-10 Pirates squad, said head coach Amanda Barnes. In the past four games Cheripko won 34 draw controls for an average of 8.5 draw controls per game, an average that puts her in the top five players nationwide in that category.

“I think that kind of puts in perspective what Morgan is putting out there for us in games and her contribution to this program,” Barnes said. “Her maturity on and off the field has really lifted our program.”

VIEW ECU’S 2018 LACROSSE SCHEDULE & SCORES ON ECUPIRATES.COM

Related

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

Filed Under: News & Features

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent News & Features

Baseball News
Pirates walk off in 10th for sweep

Baseball News
Pirates continue roll

Baseball News
Pirates overtake Houston for 12th straight win

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Pirates grind to success

Baseball News
ECU edges Campbell, 7-6

Baseball News
Pirates clinch AAC crown

Baseball News
ECU captures series, boosts conference lead

Baseball News
Pirates take series opener with Bulls

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates aim high for interior line talent

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Pirates prevail at less than best

More News & Features

ECU Schedules

  • ECU 2021 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2020-21 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2021 Baseball Schedule

ECU Recruiting

  • Football Recruiting Class of 2021
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2020
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2019
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2018
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2017
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2021-22
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2020-21
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2019-20
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2018-19
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2017-18
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2016-17
Tweets by bonesville

Past Football Schedules

  • ECU 2020 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2019 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2018 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2017 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2016 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2015 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2014 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2013 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2012 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2011 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2010 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2009 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2008 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2007 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2006 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2005 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2004 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2003 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2002 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2001 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2000 Football Schedule
  • Historical Schedules

Past Basketball Schedules

  • ECU 2019-20 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2018-19 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2017-18 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2016-17 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2000-2015 Basketball Archives

Past Baseball Schedules

  • ECU 2020 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2019 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2018 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2017 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2016 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2015 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2001-2014 Baseball Archives

Recruiting Class Profiles

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates aim high for interior line talent

ECU Recruiting News
Well stocked Pirates enter fray for O-linemen

ECU Recruiting News
ECU faces uphill battle in hunt for tight ends

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates cast wide net for wide receivers

ECU Recruiting News
Loaded Pirates still courting running backs

ECU Recruiting News
ECU targets quarterbacks of the future

AAC Football Recruiting News
Transfer portal reshaping AAC football programs

Class of 2022 Defensive Report Card
ECU’s former weak link becoming big strength (updated)

Class of 2022 Offensive Report Card
Help is on the way for blocking corps (update 3)

American Athletic Conference Recruiting
Bearcats lead AAC’s early signing push

Class of 2022 In-depth Analysis
Surprises, depth highlight early recruiting haul

VIEW FROM THE EAST
‘What a difference a year makes’

Football Recruiting Report
Prolific receiver Webb may enroll early

Football Recruiting Report
Another gifted running back headed to ECU

Football Recruiting Report
ECU wins pledge from hotly recruited RB Gunn

Football Recruiting Report
Coveted lineman Sacra may enroll early

Football Recruiting Report
Pirates lure a star from DB factory

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Harrell on quest for unanimous effort

Football Recruiting Report
West Craven star Mims sticking close to home

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Pirates ready for preseason camp

Football Recruiting Report
Lineman built his future during COVID layoff

Football Recruiting Report
Norcross star on track for early enrollment

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Pirates pulling from portal

Football Recruiting Report
Big man Allen tapping into ‘nasty side’

Football Recruiting Report
ECU gets one of NC’s top D-line prospects

Recent Web Roundups

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Sunday, May 22, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Saturday, May 21, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Friday, May 20, 2022

Writer Archives

  • Bonesville Staff
  • Brian Bailey
  • Sammy Batten
  • Bethany Bradsher
  • Brett Friedlander
  • Al Myatt
  • NFF
  • Greg Vacek
  • Danny Whitford

Recent Web Roundups

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Sunday, May 22, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Saturday, May 21, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Friday, May 20, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Thursday, May 19, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Wednesday, May 18, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Monday, May 16, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Sunday, May 15, 2022

More Web Roundups

Copyright © 2022 Bonesville.net · Website by Seaport Webworks. · Log in · Privacy Policy