The club Lacrosse team closed their season on a high note this past Sunday as they defeated the 11th ranked Lehigh Mountain Hawks 9-4. This game was special not only because it was a win but also because the team used this game as a chance to fundraise for the charity organization One Love.
One Love is a non-profit organization that aims to end relationship abuse, according to its website.
“Our game this weekend meant a lot to our program,” junior Captain Alex Oliver said. “A huge win over Lehigh was a great way to end our season, especially because we were playing as a fundraiser for One Love.”
The Mountain Hawks started fast and caught the Leopards off guard as they went up 1-0. When the teams had played in early April and Lehigh came out on top, the game started the same way.
“I think the team took a big step forward since the last time we played Lehigh both mentally and physically,” sophomore Tyler Capriotti said. “The combination of team spirit, prep and simply excitement to play a rival led us to victory this time. You can’t underestimate how much fans can improve your in-game performance.”
This time, the odds were further stacked against the Leopards as they were without their star face-off specialist, junior Jameson Waldron. However, the Leopards were not deterred as they immediately came back with a goal of their own.
From there, Lafayette went on a run scoring three more goals before the end of the first half as the defense along with freshman goalie Will Clemens clamped down on the Lehigh attackers, holding them from scoring again for the rest of the half.
“Over the season, they were able to really come together well and I think this game was their hard work paying off,” Capriotti said. “On the defensive side of the ball, the men were lights out. Clemens took control leading us to where we needed to be as well as putting an end to a lot of high-quality shots.”
Going into halftime, the score was 5-1. Lafayette has taken a lead into two games in which they ended up dropping, so they refused to take their foot off the pedal.
“The boys came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter and we kept that momentum all the way through the game,” Oliver said. “To be honest I think we just wanted it more than them. We won more scrappy ground balls than they did and executed our offense.”
Lehigh came out of the gate firing, putting in two goals back-to-back making 5-3. The Leopards quickly responded with two of their own to take the momentum back.
With the score at 7-3, Lehigh mounted one last attempt at offense by putting three shots on goal, one of which was a trick play. Clemens was able to save two out of three, and Lehigh’s last-ditch attempts were thwarted.
Lafayette finished the day by tacking on two more insurance goals, making the final score of their One Love game 9-4.
“I think One Love has a special place in the team heart as many of the players are so invested in keeping their strong and healthy relationships, as well as sprouting new ones,” Capriotti said.
Now the attention turns to next season. Lafayette did not make the playoffs this year, but the team is only losing three seniors, so there is much promise for the club lacrosse team.
“Although we didn’t make the playoffs this year, we feel confident about next season,” Oliver said. “We just ran the number eleven team in the country out of the stadium so how hard can it be.”
