Sports
Men’s lax concludes season with loss to Tufts
By Patrick Malin ’18
May 1, 2015
Despite a strong season, Hamilton men’s lacrosse fell to Tufts in their final game. The team finished seventh in the NESCAC, making it to the first round of the playoffs. Although they are losing some key players, the Continentals have many promising young players and will look to come back with a strong 2016 campaign.
The Continentals endured a tough stretch against three very talented opponents to end the regular season. On April 11, the men traveled to Massachusetts to take on the #1 nationally ranked Tufts team, who had only lost one game at that point in the season. The Jumbos showed why they were the best team in the nation, winning the game with an impressive 25-6 final score. Attacker JD Brachman ’17 scored two goals and Connor Morgan ’15, Pax Anthos ’15, Sam Sweet ’16 and Jack O’Brien ’15 each added a goal of their own, but the Continentals were not able to match the impressive play by Tufts.
The following week, the Continentals took on Connecticut College in their last home game of the season. Brachman scored a goal off of a pass from Sweet midway through the final period of play to put Hamilton in front 7-6, but Connecticut College came up in the clutch, scoring four straight goals and winning the game with a final score of 10-7. Three days later, the Continentals concluded the regular season with a loss to RPI. Morgan scored two goals and Pat Donahoe ’16, John Zimmerman ’15, Sweet, Brian Bauersfield ’15 and Jack Gaul ’18 all scored a goal each to put the Continentals up 7-2 in the second period. Unfortunately ,the Continentals were unable to keep RPI from scoring, giving up 8 straight goals, and the game ended 10-8 in favor of RPI,
The men’s team looked to avenge the recent defeat against the now #6 ranked Jumbos in a rematch in the first game of the NESCAC playoffs. Tufts got out to an early 5-0 lead, but Dan Cahill ’17 put Hamilton on the board and Gaul scored late in the period. Entering the second period, Hamilton trailed by a wide 9-2 goal difference. The Continentals dominated the second period with goals scored by Morgan (2), Ryan McCausland ’16, Zimmerman and Matt Hrvatin ’15. They headed into the second half down only 10-7. In the second half, Anthos scored twice and McCausland added his second of the game, but the Continentals could not overcome the deficit, losing with a final score of 15-12, and were eliminated from the post-season.
The men’s lacrosse team finished the season at .500, with an overall record of 8-8. They finished 4-6 against NESCAC opponents, but went 4-1 playing on Steuben Field. Junior Sam Sweet led the team with 44 points on the season and his 26 goals also were a team best. Zimmerman had 40 points with a team high 21 assists, and Anthos was third on the team in points with 24 in just 14 games. Will Driscoll ’15 tallied eight wins, 237 saves and a .592 save percentage in goal this year. The Continentals will miss the production from these impactful seniors next year, but underclassmen like Brachman (18 goals this season) and Cahill (15 points) look poised to make the 2016 lacrosse season a successful one.