The Voice of Bates College Since 1873

The Bates Student

The Voice of Bates College Since 1873

The Bates Student

The Voice of Bates College Since 1873

The Bates Student

Men’s Lax Goes Viral

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Sydney Beres ‘18 watches her Sam Reiss ‘18 advance the ball. JOHN NEUFELD/THE BATES STUDENT

This week proved to be rather eventful for the men’s lacrosse team.

Coming in hot off a NESCAC win last Saturday, the Bobcats took to the field on Tuesday, March 20, in a non-conference matchup against Keene State.

The ‘Cats established a lead early on, ending the first quarter up 4-1. Curtis Knapton ‘20 got Bates up on the board first, followed by one from Clarke Jones ‘18, and then two later in the quarter from Max Breschi ‘18 and Jack Scribner ‘18.

The second quarter started off with a bang, when Matt Chlastawa ‘20 scored three times in the first five minutes. He rounded off the game with seven goals and three assists, but the action really got started in the third quarter. Brendan Mullally ‘20 showed up with a hat trick in the third, but it was one goal in particular that garnered attention. With a nice behind-the-back feed from Chlastawa, Mullally pulled off an amazing behind-the-back goal. So amazing in fact, that the play made the SportsCenter top ten of the week, topping up the list at number one.

“I saw the #sctop10 on the Bates Instagram, but I wasn’t expecting to make it, much less number one. It’s just a testament to Aaron Morse and all the hard work he has done for the marketing of Bates Athletics,” says Chlastawa. “I didn’t believe it at first, and it was cool to see a Bates highlight along with two other lacrosse highlights. I think it’s great for Bates as well as the lacrosse community as a whole.”

Bates finished off the game with five goals scored in the last quarter, including the final 21st by Devin Russell ’21, the first of his career. “It was great to see the team really come together and start to play towards our potential. The atmosphere was electric,” Russell says.

That electric atmosphere continued on Saturday, March 24, when the ‘Cats met the Williams College Ephs at home to an energetic crowd. However, a filled home stadium wasn’t enough to push the team to a win, with the Eph’s coming out on top 17-8. The Ephs set the precedent early on in the first, but the Bobcats fought hard and, after essentially matching Williams point for point, managed to tie it up by the end of the second quarter. Even though Bates put up 44 shots, Williams matched exactly that and took off in the second half of the game. The Ephs put two on the board in the first two minutes of play in the third, and never trailed after that. Bates put up two more goals, one in each of the last two quarters, scored by Clarke Jones ‘18 and Curtis Knapton ‘20 respectively. The Ephs sealed the deal in the fourth, scoring five goals in response to Knapton. Despite the loss, senior captain Clarke Jones put up four goals, and goalie Rob Strain ‘20 put up an impressive wall to a barrage of tough shots from the Ephs.

“Tuesday was a great team win. We had 14 members of the team tally points, so it was really nice to see representation from a large portion of the squad,” says Will Haskell ‘21. “It was an unfortunate loss on Saturday, but it does show us that we do have a lot to learn, and that the NESCAC is a hard conference and not always to expect a win, but it was amazing to see the turnout. It always adds more energy to the game.”

 

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