Fort Worth's only major league sports franchise makes its home debut on Friday night, as the Panther City Lacrosse Club hosts the Vancouver Warriors at 7:30 p.m.
The turf is down and the box is up at Dickies Arena. Now it's time to play the game.
"It's going to be pretty surreal. I think the guys in the locker room are super pumped about it," says Kevin Orleman, the team's starting goalkeeper.
"We're excited to see get out and see how the community's going to embrace this team."
The National Lacrosse League's website describes the game:
"Box lacrosse is played inside the confines of an ice hockey rink, with glass and rink boards intact. The playing surface consists of a green dieter turf carpet that is laid down over the hockey ice. Combined, teams score an average of 25 goals during an NLL game.
Each game consists of four fifteen-minute quarters. A tie at the end of regulation is decided in sudden-victory overtime. Each team has five runners (forwards, transition players, and defensemen) and a goaltender on the floor during the game. Each team dresses 19 players (17 runners and two goaltenders) per game, and the players rotate on and off the floor in shifts, similar to ice hockey."
Orleman says the systems and pace are similar basketball, they can fight like hockey, and it's hard-hitting like football.
"I think fans are really gonna like it when they see us hit the floor," Orleman says.
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