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 Dominates Endicott College

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

It was an outstanding week for Bates’ men’s lacrosse team. Coming off a tough loss versus Williams, the Bobcats headed into a non-conference matchup versus the Endicott College Gulls with redemption on their mind.

The Gulls came out strong, putting four goals up, before senior captain Clarke Jones ’18 netted a goal with two minutes left in the first quarter off an assist from Brendan Mullally ’20. Endicott responded a minute later, putting the Gulls up 5-1 at the end of the first. The Bobcats would not go down without a fight, scoring in the second at 14:07 by way of senior captain Burke Smith ’18, and again a minute later by Matt Chlastawa ’20.

Halfway through the second, Bates had tied it up, thanks to goals by Matt Kelleher ’19 and Jones. It was scoreless for another four minutes. Then, Chlastawa found Jones for a nice goal to put Bates ahead by one. Less than thirty seconds later, Peyton Weatherbie ’21 scored his first career goal off an assist by Sean Clark ’20, bringing Bates up 7-5.

Endicott responded quickly with one more. However, another from Mullally sealed the second quarter up, with Bates sitting at eight to Endicott’s six after being down by four at the end of the last quarter. The Bobcats never trailed again for the remainder of the game.

The teams traded goals all the way through the third, but the Bobcats never relented. Jones put a pair on the board with eleven minutes left. The Gulls fought for two more at nine minutes left, but Kelleher responded a minute later off of Chlastawa. Endicott didn’t score for the rest of the game. Jack Scribner ’21 put another one up with five minutes left, and Chlastawa threw in one more for good measure. The Bobcats took the win with a final score of 15-10.

“After last Saturday’s loss, the team knew that we weren’t going to be given anything, especially in a conference like the NESCAC,” says Peyton Weatherbie ‘21. “That is why Tuesday’s game was important for us. It was important for us to get back to our fundamentals and get back in the win column. Now that out of conference play is over, we know that every game is a playoff game, and we are excited to take advantage of every chance we get to show other teams in our conference what we can do.”

That proved to be sound advice, as the Bobcats dominated in an away game versus the Hamilton College Continentals. Bates came exploding out of the gate, winning the face off and scoring the first goal of the match within the first minute by Curtis Knapton ’20. Bates scored two more before a response from the Continentals, an unassisted goal from senior captain Jones, and then one more from Chlastawa assisted by Parker Strong ’18.

Jones and Chlastawa are currently tied at the top of the conference with 33 goals, with Chlastawa topping the NESCAC with 59 points and Jones at a close second with 47 points. Bates responded to Hamilton’s only tally of the game with two more shots by Mullally and Chlastawa at 3:42, just shy of the last minute of the game.

The Continentals pulled out one more with just 26 seconds to go in the first quarter. The second quarter was completely dominated by the Bobcats, with Jones scoring back-to-back goals in the twelfth minute. Add to that one more by Knapton, Scribner’s first of the game and another for Chlastawa, and the score was 10-2 at halftime. Hamilton came back in the game after the break, putting up four goals and leaving Bates scoreless up until nearly the fifth minute. Jones and Chlastawa teamed up for one, which Hamilton quickly retaliated. The duo quickly put up two more to close out the third, first by Jones unassisted, then a buzzer beater by Chlastawa fed by Jones.

Bates extended their lead in the fourth to seal the deal, outscoring Hamilton 6-2, with goals from Dahnique Brown-Jones ’19, a pair by Mullally, one more from Chlastawa/Jones, one from Andrew Small ’19, and the first career goal by James Gruver ’21.

“It was a really fun and exciting game. Getting another NESCAC win means a lot to everybody on the team and is something we will absolutely build off of. I think we all are excited to keep proving what we are capable of this season and are working hard to keep moving forward,” says Drew Collins ’20.

 

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