By Mike Schultes ’12
Photo Courtesy of Athletic Communications
The struggles for the Lafayette Men’s Lacrosse team continued this past Saturday, as the Leopards dropped their fifth straight contest in front of a large crowd at Fisher Stadium to the visiting Black Knights of Army. Army (4-5, 1-1) came in to the game after losing two straight one-goal games as part of a three game road trip. An evenly played first quarter finished in a 1-1 tie after a slick unassisted lefty tally from senior midfielder Colin Serling ’12. However, Army would take control over the next three quarters, dominating the Leopards by a score of 10-3. Lafayette’s two other goals came from freshman attackmenSonny Round ‘15 and Cory Scheurele ‘15. The Black Knights were led by a five-point day from pre-season All-American Garrett Thul ‘13.
Off to a 0-3 Patriot League start, the Leopards have two non-conference games coming up in which they will look to right the ship before finishing the season with three more Patriot League matches.
“With Georgetown and Marist coming up, we’re looking to get our offense back on track,” Serling said. “These next two games are huge for us to gain our confidence back before we finish up with some tough Patriot League match ups.”
In the last five games, the Leopards have been outscored by their opponents by a total of 71-31, a stat which may stem from the opposition often having as many as double their possessions a game. After the graduation of standout face-off man Cesar Munoz ‘11, steady production from the faceoff postion has become a problem for Lafayette. Injuries and inexperience have attributed to the face-off woes, as Lafayette’s success rate during faceoffsstands at a 33 percent over the five game skid.
“We have been working on different techniques to tie opposing face-off men up, and prevent fast breaks, but it really just comes down to possessions,” midfielder Bob Fitzpatrick ‘12 said. “When we are on defense for the majority of the game, we are bound to give up goals, no matter how well we play.”
Serling says that despite their tough draws so far, things are only going to get tougher.
“We have lost a few games to some very tough nationally ranked opponents,” he added. “However, it does not get any easier going forward. We are going to continue to work hard, tweak some personnel, and look to finish up strong.”
The Leopards are at home again this Saturday at 4 p.m. as Big East contender and 20th ranked Georgetown University visits Fisher Stadium. This matchup is the second part of a doubleheader for Lafayette Lacrosse at Fisher Stadium with the women’s team scheduled to square off at 1 p.m. against Bucknell.