The men’s lacrosse team saw its season come to an end on May 2, falling to two-seeded Boston University by a score of 12-10 in West Point, New York. The loss marked the end of what has been a historic season for the Leopards, which saw them record their first-ever Patriot League tournament victory and their first 10-win season.
The Leopards (5-3 Patriot League, 10-6 overall) entered the rematch against the Terriers (6-2 Patriot League, 11-5 overall) off the back of a 9-5 win against Navy (4-4 Patriot League, 8-7 overall) that saw the team qualify for its first ever Patriot League semifinal appearance.
“It was just important for us to keep level heads and nose a quick turnaround from that Tuesday game to Friday,” junior goalie Joe Doherty said. “We just had to focus on the opponent and not really dwell on the win too much.”
After a scoreless opening five minutes, the Leopards grabbed the first goal of the game from sophomore attacker Billy Irish. The teams then traded goals, with freshman midfielder Nicholas Blalock scoring twice to keep the Leopards in front at 3-2.
Freshman midfielder Joseph Duggan added a tally to extend the Leopard advantage off an assist from freshman attacker Benjamin DiBattista.
“Ben DiBattista made a great move and I was able to get his hands free and draw a lot of attention from the defense,” Duggan said. “I was able to find that open lane, and Ben was able to make a great feed inside.”
The Terriers responded to close the half, firing two goals in one minute to level the game. Despite this, Blalock would have the final say of the first half, scoring off a feed from senior attacker Riley Sullivan to complete the hat trick, giving the Maroon and White a 5-4 halftime lead.
“We were kind of all in on that those last couple of seconds,” Duggan said.
There was little to separate the two teams in the third quarter as Boston scored three goals to Lafayette’s two. Both of the Maroon and White’s goals came from Blalock to give him five total goals in the game, surpassing his season high. His fifth, off a feed from senior midfielder Liam Sargent, came in the closing seconds of the quarter and sent the teams into the fourth quarter level at 7-7.
Sargent scored his first goal of the game to nudge the Leopards in front early in the fourth, but a five-goal explosion from the Terriers saw them pull away with a 12-8 lead. The Leopards found two man-up goals to close the quarter, but it was not enough as the Terriers advanced to the championship game.
“They’re a good team,” Doherty said. “They made some big plays down the stretch, and I think we didn’t really have an answer.”
The key to the Terriers’ run was their control of the faceoff circle, with Boston corralling four faceoffs in a row as they continued to pile on the goals, taking the ball out of the Leopards’ control for long stretches. Doherty recorded eight saves on 20 shots on goal for a save percentage of 0.400.
Following their victory against the Leopards, the Terriers went on to fall 17-10 to Colgate University (4-4 Patriot League, 10-7 overall) in the Sunday championship.
Now at the conclusion of his freshman season, Duggan reflected upon his experience and offered hopeful words for next year.
“I’ve learned so, so much on the field from coaches and especially the upperclassmen,” he said. “But I think one of the biggest things was just the strength of playing as one cohesive unit and not focusing on your own stats or glory. I know a lot of the returners are focusing on the same thing and trying to maximize their offseason to get better.”
Dan Sullivan ‘27 contributed reporting.
