The men’s lacrosse team split a pair of home contests this past week, falling 19-14 to conference rival Colgate University on Saturday before defeating the New Jersey Institute of Technology 14-4 on Tuesday.
The Leopards (0-2 Patriot League, 4-3 overall) held their own against the No. 14 Raiders (2-0 Patriot League, 5-2 overall) for the majority of the game. The teams traded six goals in the opening eight minutes as senior attacker Riley Sullivan tied the game up with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter. Colgate added another to take a 4-3 lead into the second.
“Once you get into Patriot play, that’s when it counts,” Sullivan said. “So it’s really just nothing changes, just heightened urgency throughout the week of practice and then when game day comes around, benches fire in.”
After the Raiders added another point to open the second interval, the Leopards came out firing on all angles. A 5-goal run that included three from Sullivan and one apiece from freshmen midfielders Mason Hill and Nicholas Blalock gave the Maroon and White their first lead of the game. Each team netted an additional goal to carry a 9-6 Leopard advantage into halftime.
Sullivan, who had seven total assists on the day, said that passing is a focal point for the team in practice.
“The guys know when I’m dodging through ‘X,’ my head’s up,” he said. “We’re just making eye contact, and I hope to make a good play, and I trust that they’re gonna finish the ball.”
The Raiders made up some ground in the third quarter, outscoring the Leopards 5-3. Sophomore midfielder Jack Massotto, freshman attacker Benjamin DiBattista and Blalock were responsible for the goals scored.
Hill and DiBattista each added insurance in the first two minutes of the final quarter to take a 14-11 lead. However, it was all Raiders from there, as the visitors notched eight unanswered goals to seal the comeback victory.
“When you’re playing a very good team like that, it all comes down to making the plays at the end of the game,” Sullivan said. “I think there’s a way to learn to win, and I think we’re taking the right steps forward.”
The Maroon and White rebounded with a decisive win over NJIT (1-5 overall) on Tuesday. Four different Leopards scored in the opening frame to take a 4-3 lead. The second quarter was dominated by the Leopards, keeping the Highlanders out of the net and producing goals courtesy of senior midfielder Liam Sargent, Hill and Sullivan to stretch the advantage to 7-3 ahead of intermission.
“Our defense was unreal,” DiBattista said. “Did a great job shutting them down, taking away their strong hands, taking away their big-time players.”
The Leopards’ defense only allowed one additional goal in the third period, allowing the offense to tack on four more goals before the final period. The brother tandem of sophomore attacker Billy Irish and junior midfielder Jack Irish connected on one of three insurance goals in the fourth to propel the Leopards to victory.
Junior goalkeeper Joe Doherty matched his season low of four conceded goals against the Highlanders, saving nine shots. Sullivan netted a total of nine goals and 13 assists across the two games to lead the offense for the Leopards and was named the Patriot League offensive player of the week.
The Leopards will return to Fisher Stadium to resume conference play on Saturday against Holy Cross (1-1 Patriot League, 3-5 overall).
DiBattista said that the team’s approach will stay the same.
“Just taking it one day at a time, one game at a time,” he said. “Just worried about winning each day, winning each practice and not really thinking too far ahead.”
