Sports

Men’s and women’s lacrosse open conference play with competitive matches against Wesleyan

By by Patrick Malin ’18

Kicking off against a strong NESCAC opponent, the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams took on the Wesleyan Cardinals on Feb. 28. Both teams looked to start the season strong with a conference win to solidify themselves as contenders and serious threats in one of the toughest conferences in Division III lacrosse.

The men’s team kicked-off its season away from home, traveling to Middletown, Connecticut to take on a Wesleyan team that finished in second place in the NESCAC in 2014. Pax Anthos ’15 wasted no time scoring the first goal of the season for the Continentals just 48 seconds into the first period. Wesleyan quickly evened the score, but a goal by John Zimmerman ’15 put the Continentals in front again, 2-1. Wesleyan came back with two consecutive goals to close out the first period, Hamilton trailing 3-2.

Both Anthos and Zimmerman scored their second goals and Dan Cahill ’17 added his first in the second period, but Wesleyan remained even, heading into the second half 5-5. Sam Sweet ’16 netted a goal just eight seconds into the third period, but Wesleyan quickly responded, leveling the score at 6-6. Anthos scored his third goal of the game in the third, and Sweet scored his second goal early in the fourth and final period, putting Hamilton on top 8-6. The Cardinals, however, came storming back, scoring two goals, one coming with just three minutes left to tie the game 8-8 at the end of regulation.

The Continentals got an early opportunity in overtime when they went a man-up after a slashing penalty on Wesleyan. Will Driscoll ’15 stopped four Wesleyan shots in overtime but with just four seconds left in the game, Wesleyan scored on a rebound, winning the game in overtime 9-8.

“Our main focus is always trying to get everyone back up to game speed and to progress towards late-season form as quickly as possible. We still have work to do but we have the players to make a run this year if we can put all the pieces together,” Zimmerman said.

The Hamilton women’s lacrosse team began its season with a victory against Wesleyan at home on Steuben Field. The Continentals trailed early with Wesleyan scoringjust two minutes into the first half. But a few minutes later, Jackie Cuddy ’18 scored her first career goal for Hamilton to tie the game at one goal apiece. Morgan Fletcher ’17 scored shortly after to put the Continentals in front. Wesleyan was able to reply to the first half goals from Hamilton’s Darby Philbrick ’18 and Ashleigh Stephan ’15, heading into halftime with a 5-4 lead.

The Continentals took control early in the second half when Stephan put in her second goal of the game just a minute and a half into the second period of play. Caroline McCarthy ’16 added another goal in the second half to take the lead and Nora Klemmer ’17 stretched the lead to two with a goal of her own. Fletcher scored her second goal of the game to put the Continentals up 8-5. Although the Wesleyan Cardinals were able to score one last goal, they could not complete the comeback, as the Continentals emerged victorious with a final score of 8-6.

“Overall we’re extremely happy with our first game. We managed the momentum well and our decision making in the second half was key to our success,” Stephan said.

“We were focused in on every play and constantly competing. I think this was especially apparent with our defensive plays,” Fletcher said.

The men’s team will play two home games this week at Steuben Field, against Nazareth on Mar. 4 and NESCAC opponent Colby onMar. 7.

“We are a hard working team and have a lot of talent. We will be successful if we play our game and do the little things correctly. This is the most talented team that we have had since I have been here and I couldn’t be more excited,” Lahey said.

The women’s team will take on William Smith at the Campus Road Athletic Field and will travel to Waterville, Maine to take on Colby on March 7.

“Demonstrating an enthusiasm for working hard at practice and playing as hard as one is an extremely important mentality for our team in the beginning stages of our 2015 season,” attacker Margaret Gabriel ’16 said.

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