March 6, 2014
The Men’s Lacrosse team had a successful season in 2013, with a record of 9-6, but for them that is not enough.
This year, the team is confident in its ability to compete with any NESCAC team. Although the team graduated four seniors last year, two midfielders and two defensemen, the returning upperclassmen are eager and ready to lead the team to a successful season.
The essential players to keep an eye on this season are captain Brian Hopper ’14 at midfield, Dylan Lahey ’15 on defense, Connor Morgan ’15 and John Zimmerman ’14 and Paul Armideo ’14 on attack.
Hopper is a reliable leader and a great two-way player, as he is capable of both responsible defending and creative playmaking on offense. Lahey ’15 is the team’s defensive rock because he barely gets beat man-to-man. Morgan ’15, Zimmerman ’14 and Armideo ’14 have been offensive threats in the past, and should continue to be major goal scorers in the coming season.
Along with this core of strong upperclassmen, the team is confident as a result of its rigorous and fruitful offseason. The Conts spent the fall and winter in the weight room, bulking up and building team camaraderie, which will improve chemistry and overall cohesiveness on the field.
Junior starting goalie Will Driscoll commented, “One of the major talking points early on this season has been our clearing game, we were mediocre at times last year and have been working on a number of sets that will increase our clearing percentage and cut down on the number of second chances we as a defense give the other teams offense.”
This past weekend, the team suffered a tough loss, losing in overtime to Wesleyan University, 12-11. Wesleyan played in the NESCAC championship last season, and are currently ranked ninth in the Division III polls this season.
Despite the game’s outcome, Hamilton’s ability to compete with a NESCAC powerhouse illustrates their potential for the upcoming season. Driscoll added, “This week’s game against Wesleyan tested our resolve, since we faced a five-goal deficit before half time and could easily have imploded and called it a day.”
The goalie felt that “on the defensive side we need to ease into the game better, and not be so nervous that we deviate from our game plan. If we can have better starts we won’t dig ourselves in a hole early and have to play catch up. For the offense I hope they can continue to move the ball, posses it, and limit the amount of forced passes.”
Coach Scott Barnard agreed with Driscoll, asserting that, “We can compete with everyone in the NESCAC.”
The squad had a strong offseason and critical members, who will lead the team, are returning. Hamilton currently sits at 0-2 after a 16-11 non-conference loss against 10th-ranked Nazareth,
The Continentals will return to NESCAC action on March 8 at Colby. Following a pair of home games against Union and Bowdoin and a road contest at Skidmore, the team will travel to Davenport, Fla. over spring break and play a pair of games against Amherst and Keene State.
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