Men’s lacrosse came up with two big victories last week, taking down NESCAC foes Connecticut College and Bowdoin, 11-6 and 13-7, respectively. After dropping the first two league games, the Cardinals are now back in the mix in the conference standings. The team is now tied with for fifth in the league and has an overall record of 8-2.
The first victory came last Wednesday when the Camels of Connecticut College (1-6, 1-4 in NESCAC) visited campus. A harsh welcome met the Camels as the Cardinals jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter. Quad-captain Ian Applegate ’04 assisted on the first two goals, and then helped the team to a 7-2 half time lead with two of his three goals in the second quarter. The five goal margin proved to be more than enough in the second half as each team scored four goals. Quad-captain Dan Ackil ’04 and Chris Meade ’05 each scored twice in the game, and Meade added two assists. Other goal-scorers include Chris Knacke ’05, Dave Fine ’04, Jordan Funt ’06, and Glenn Adams ’06. The team out-shot the Camels by a telling 39-16 count, as goalie Matt Wheeler ’05 only needed to make four saves in securing the win.
“In the past four years, we’ve never had a game with Conn that went as smoothly as that one did,” said quad-captain Chris Mele ’04. “For some reason, it was just always a battle and it felt really good to control the game and play up to our potential.”
The Cardinals carried the momentum from Wednesday’s win up to Bowdoin on Saturday and handled the Polar Bears. Adams came out firing, scoring both of the team’s first quarter goals. With the score knotted at two a piece in the second, Applegate decided to take over the game. His first goal took back the lead just two minutes after Bowdoin tied it. Bowdoin tied it again with six minutes left in the half, but Applegate countered by scoring his second unassisted goal just over a minute later. An unassisted goal by Knacke gave the Cardinals a cushion going into the half, with the score standing at 5-3.
After Bowdoin cut the lead back to one, the Cardinals scored five straight to put the game out of reach. Ackil sandwiched two more goals by Applegate with two of his own, and then Funt struck before Bowdoin managed a late goal to end the third. Bowdoin scored twice to start the fourth to cut the lead to three, but the Cardinals shut them out for the rest of the game. Applegate scored two more goals bringing his total to six on the day, and Mike Hines ’06 added a goal of his own.
Despite picking up its second victory of the week, the team still sees room for improvement.
“I was disappointed with my play in both games, but I was happy to see others around me step up and finally show even the slightest inkling of interest and talent,” Fine said. “We are a good team who needs to win a lot more games. Hopefully my teammates will not continue to blow it and think that I can pick up the pieces after them. Specifically, I like to single out Mike Hines. Mayo, get your head out of your ass.”
The team totaled 32 shots and held the Bears to only 20, as Wheeler recorded eight saves. Meade led the team with two assists, and Phil Amidon ’05, Mele and Funt also assisted on goals.
After his nine goals last week, Applegate leads the team with 22 on the season. Applegate and Knacke, who leads the team in points with 33, have both crossed the century barrier for career points. Although not verified, any loyal reader will probably assume Applegate added to his collection of game balls with his performance.
Next up for the Cardinals is Amherst on Saturday. This will be the first weekend since the conference games started that the Cardinals have a home game. Amherst is currently third in the conference standings, but hopefully an aggressive home crowd will help the Cards pick up a big win.
“We really need to concentrate on beating Amherst, which would put us in a really good position to finish up in the top 4. As great as it is to play Little Three games, we really just need to concentrate on winning each game as they come. Home field advantage in the play offs is the only thing on our mind right now,” Mele said.
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