The men’s lacrosse team avoided a mid-week letdown as they defeated Trinity (4-7, 2-5 NESCAC) on the road on Tuesday. Although the team did not play their best game, the match ended with a 10-6 score in favor of the Cards despite a good effort from one of the lower ranked teams in the conference.
“Although we didn’t play that well against Trinity, we were still able to get the victory,” said quad-captain Ian Applegate ’04. “Their goalie had 24 saves on us, which is just ridiculous. I place some blame on Mike Hines [’07] because he decided to hit the goalie in the chest, rather than put the ball in the net.”
The team’s record now stands at 10-2, and a 4-2 conference mark keeps them tied with Bowdoin for third place in the NESCAC. Fortunately Amherst lost again, to drop out of what was a three-way tie and put the Cards in even better shape for a home playoff game. After four straight victories, the team has moved into the seventeenth slot in the Division III national rankings.
The game against the Bantams started slowly for the Cards, as Trinity scored the first two goals of the game. Thanks to the sophomore duo of Jordan Funt ’06 and Glenn Adams ’06 the Cards tied the game up by the end of the first, as each scored an unassisted goal.
“We were playing for [coach] Raba’s eighth Connecticut State Championship and some guys were feeling the pressure,” said Brian Adams ’04. “Mike Hines especially has to stop being such a horse’s ass for us to be successful.”
After the Bantams struck early again in the second, the Cardinals grabbed the momentum. First Chris Knacke ’05 assisted on Applegate’s first goal of the match, and then Knacke added an unassisted goal of his own. Adams scored his second goal of the match with just eleven seconds left in the half, putting the Cardinals up with a solid 5-3 lead entering the intermission.
Wes was not about to let the Bantams start another quarter strong, and the defense held its own for the entire third quarter, allowing no goals. The offense took advantage of two extra-man advantages, as Mike Vitulano ’06 scored the team’s third quarter goals on two assists from Adams.
Applegate got the scoring started in the fourth, scoring early with the assist credited to Chris Meade ’05. Trinity, although down 8-3, was not ready to go quietly. Two extra-man goals cut the Wes lead to three with almost ten minutes remaining on the clock.
“Penalties also got us into some trouble later in the game,” Adams said. “The zebras have to realize that lacrosse is not just a slap and tickle fest, it’s the last of the blood sports and should be reffed as such.”
Applegate again stepped up, scoring an unassisted goal to provide the cushion and a 9-5 lead. The Bantams only managed one goal for the rest of the contest, and Vitulano scored again on another assist from Meade to cap off the scoring. Vitulano and Applegate ended the game with three goals a piece to lead the team, but Adams led the team in scoring with two goals and two assists.
“After looking at the Trinity game tape, I realized I had no choice but to give the game ball to myself again,” Applegate said. “So that brings my total number of game balls to [a] team-record ten.”
The next unlucky team to face the Cardinal machine is Williams (3-7, 2-4 NESCAC). The squad travels to Massachusetts to take on the Ephs this Saturday in a Little Three match-up. Defeating Williams will give the team the Little Three title for the second year in row.
“A win [against Williams] will pretty much lock up a home playoff game for us,” Applegate said. “Dave Fine [’04] was unable to play in the game against Trinity due to a broken bursa. I just hope he is able to fully recover for the purple cows.”
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