In its home opener this past Saturday, the men’s lacrosse team (0-2 overall, 0-0 Patriot League) fell to No. 12 Delaware 14-5.
The Blue Hens got off to a quick start, taking a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Sophomore midfielder Liam Sargent, assisted by freshman midfielder Jack Irish, put the Leopards on the scoreboard at 9:52 in the second quarter. Delaware kept the intensity up, leading 7-1 going into the half.
Junior attacker Charlie Cunniffe recorded the second Lafayette goal at 13:58 in the third quarter. Irish added two goals of his own in the final quarter of the game, with junior midfielder John Mathes netting one too.
Lafayette struggled to get anything going against the nationally-ranked Blue Hens. But besides the stats for shots made, the matchup proved much closer than the final scoreboard would suggest.
“I thought the team competed for sixty minutes,” Head Coach Patrick Myers wrote in an email. “Obviously, we need to get more stops on defense, and score more than five goals, but overall the compete level from our team was excellent.”
Lafayette won the groundball battle 28-24. Although Delaware won more face-offs (13-9), junior midfielder Aidan Kelly won an impressive seven of 12 face-offs in the second half.
“I thought Aidan Kelly did a nice job … and was proud of his mindset throughout the game,” Myers wrote.
Freshman goalkeeper Joe Doherty recorded 14 saves in the loss. Delaware’s goalkeeper had 12 stops.
“I thought Joe Doherty did a really nice job in the goal, making his second career start and playing with poise and confidence,” Myers wrote. “He made several tough saves against a very good group of Delaware shooters.”
Saturday’s game was the team’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Every Child Matters game.
Myers wrote that the game intended to recognize the importance of DEI and to bring awareness to the Every Child Matters movement, which demands justice for Native American victims of residential schools.
Tomorrow, Lafayette will be home once again to host Sacred Heart at 4 p.m.
“At this point in the season we are working on all phases of the game, finding the right chemistry and building an identity in terms of how we want to play,” Myers wrote. “[We want to maintain] a level of focus for sixty minutes that will allow us to compete with the best teams in our league.”
