Even though Pete Makover hasn't been able to lead the men's lacrosse team on the field, his aura is still around the squad.

Around Labor Day, 1991, Makover, a tri-captain for the team, began to experience some back pain. This past summer, the pain intensified and some of it began to shoot down his legs.

Doctors were unable to diagnose the source of the problem, and no type of rehabilitation was able to combat the mysterious ailment.

But as the new year arrived, so did some improvement. And in the past six weeks, Makover has experienced "significant improvement" and is hopeful that his playing days are not over.

"Certain movements cause the pain and it varies from time to time as to the intensity of the pain," Makover said. "Before the season started, the hopes were dim that I could play again. But the improvement that I've seen recently makes me hope I will be able to play in the near future."

Even though Makover was selected to be one of the team's captains in the preseason, his departure from the field has made his leadership duties all the tougher.

"It's been difficult being a captain and not playing," Makover said. "It's hard to relate to the players when you're not playing with them. All I can do is be vocal and positive from the sidelines and give any advice if necessary."

With seven key players graduating in 1992, Makover's loss has been all that more critical, depleting some of the scant depth that remained. In 1992, Makover had a team-high 20 assists to go along with 11 goals from his midfield position.

"Pete is a good goal scorer as well as an assist man," senior midfielder Chris Marcus said. "Pete not being in the lineup is a big loss for us this year, and he would've been a good addition on this team."

The offense has indeed been struggling. The Lions (2-4) have averaged just seven goals a game in their four matches against Top 20 teams. In lacrosse, a team that is held to 10 or fewer goals will almost always lose.

"We haven't scored 10 goals in any big games this season," senior midfielder Ben Hood said. "Pete would've helped out as scoring goals, and losing him means we lose 20 goals (from his assists). He was one of our go-to guys."

What has made Makover all the more dangerous is his 'sleeping dragon' mentality when he's on the field.

"One time the Princeton coach (Bill Tierney) said about Pete that if you leave him alone, he doesn't do much," Hood recalled. "But one start going after him, he just explodes offensively."

If Makover's back gets better in the next six months and is able to play, there is no doubt that Coach Glenn Thiel will gladly give him the fifth-year opportunity in 1994.

"I'm sorry for him that he hasn't been able to play," Thiel said. "We moved him because he wasn't able to take the pounding with his back. He did a decent job, but I know that it's frustrating for him not to be able to play. He made our midfield powerful, and he was a good stealer and feeder for us."

With Makover graduating on schedule as an economics and international business major, he would likely be a non-degree graduate student if he does play next year.

"I think coming back is a big if right now for him," Thiel said. "He would have to stay in school the whole year, and not like one semester if it was a fall sport. That's going to be tough to do."