|
Volume CXXXII, Number 23 |
 |
Jumbos give men's lax the axe
ALLIE YANIKOSKI
STAFF WRITER
After a triumphant 11-8 win over visiting Trinity last Saturday, the men's lacrosse team advanced to the first round of the NESCAC tournament. Unfortunately, Bowdoin's season came to an end, narrowly losing 13-14 in an intensely competitive game against host Tufts.
With less than four minutes remaining against the Jumbos, first-year Ford Barker scored the Bears' thirteenth goal to tie the game. With scarcely more than half a minute left in the quarter, however, the Jumbos scored one last goal to secure the win.
Bowdoin captured an early 2-0 lead and continued to lead by scores of 4-3 and 8-7 after the first two quarters. Tufts caught up in the third quarter, and with only 15 minutes remaining, the two teams were deadlocked in a 12-12 tie.
Bowdoin senior Kyle Courtiss led the Bowdoin men with three goals. Senior co-captains Jordan Fay and Ted Scholhamer, and first years Chris Eaton, Ford Barker, Carl Klimpt, and Andy Nelson all netted one goal apiece.
Rounding out the Bears' scoring attack, first-year Connor Fitzgerald and junior Ford Gurall both scored twice. Gurall and Fitzgerald also assisted two goals each, while Scholhamer, Courtiss, and Barker each tallied one assist.
Fitzgerald and Barker assisted the most goals the previous day against Trinity, with three and two, respectively. Senior co-captain Micah Moreau and sophomore Phil Stern each put up an assist.
Stern also captured a goal of his own against Trinity, along with Fitzgerald, Barker, Eaton, Nelson, and Scholhamer. Gurall scored twice, and Courtiss again was Bowdoin's high-scorer, repeating with three goals.
Courtiss scored two of his goals in the second quarter of the game, helping the Bears to break the 2-2 tie after the first quarter and pull away from the Bantams with four successive goals. At halftime, Bowdoin controlled the game with a 7-4 lead.
Despite a quick goal from Gurall, Trinity outscored Bowdoin in the third quarter. Despite the Bantams' retaliation, the Polar Bears held onto a two goal lead heading into the final quarter. However, Trinity netted two early goals to tie the game before Fitzgerald, Gurall, and Courtiss seized control, scoring the final three goals of the game.
Back in the defensive end of the field, junior goalkeeper Grant White fought valiantly against Trinity and Tufts, making more saves than the opposing goalkeeper in both games.
Against Trinity, White blocked 12 shots on goal compared to the Bantam goalkeeper's 11 stops. In the loss to Tufts, White made a season-high 19 saves, while the Jumbo's goalkeeper was only able to thwart 15 of the Bears' shots on goal.
Courtiss closed his collegiate lacrosse career with an outstanding 47 goals this season to go along with ten assists for 57 overall points. Fitzgerald trails Courtiss by only four points, having scored 19 times and made 34 assists.
Only one goal behind Fitzgerald, Scholhamer's 18 goals and four assists give him 22 points this season-the fifth highest on the team behind Stern and Gurall, respectively. After 17 goals and ten assists, Stern finished the season with 27 points, just one ahead of Gurall who netted 16 goals of his own while providing assists for ten others.
Throughout the season, all of the captains have commented on the youth of the team. The underclassmen not only hold the most spots on the team, but they made up the six of the team's top eight scorers.
Barker holds the sixth-highest point total with 14, followed by sophomore Vinay Kashyap and Eaton, each with 13. Barker and Kashyap each scored nine times, while Eaton scored eight. Eaton and Barker each made nine assists, as Kashyap made four.
Out of forty-four players, the men will lose only six to graduation: Courtiss, Scholhamer, Fay, Moreau, co-captain Jamie Nichols, and Alex Duncan. Courtiss has proven himself to be an unstoppable offensive force in the NESCAC. As two of Bowdoin's top five high-scorers, Courtiss and Scholhamer leave a scoring gap that must be filled the strong group of underclassmen.
At midfield, Moreau also contributed to the scoring force with five valuable goals and three assists. Also at midfield, but on the defensive end, Duncan, Fay, and Nichols solidified and upheld the back line on the field.
Led by these powerful and talented seniors, the men's lacrosse team closes its forty-fifth season with a 7-9 overall record. Their 4-5 NESCAC record makes them the seventh-best team, ahead of Trinity, Bates, and Colby.
|
FastCounter by bCentral |