xpectations were high Saturday April 6 as the Blue Jays men’s lacrosse team prepared to battle against Widener University, coming off their 14-2 win at Hood College Wednesday. Unfortunately they came up short, falling 12-4 in a heroic effort. After this weeks games the team improved its record to 7-3 and 2-2 in the conference.
The team was very enthused to play Hood, which was clearly shown through the level of performance intensity. Ten goals were scored in the first half alone. Six different players scored in the first quarter including first-year Dillon O’Dell within the first five minutes. He went on to score a total of three goals throughout the entire game. First-year Steve Nutting along with three other teammates scored the second quarter goals, which set up a great second half.
“We went in expecting a win,” Nutting said. “We played confident and had excellent one on one defense. All the guys played very persistently, and never gave up.” Persistence is ultimately what lead the team to a season high 51 shots and 11 unassisted goals.
The offense was not the only side of the ball that came well prepared. The defense lead by sophomore Chris Wenger, who had 13 saves, was also assisted by senior Nick Thompson who caused four separate turnovers. During the final 40 minutes of the game the Blue Jays held strong not allowing a single goal. Head Coach Terry Corcoran said he was glad to see them really pull together as a team. He did not allow the victory to go their head’s, making sure each player focused on improving their own game.
Unfortunately, Elizabethtown College had no answer for Widener’s impressive defense Saturday afternoon. Widener’s Jon Casey scored a total of six goals, four of them coming in the second half when they scored six straight goals to defeat Etown. The trouble began just 28 seconds into the game when Widener scored their first goal.
Etown senior Cory Boushell scored an unassisted first-quarter goal, which was followed by an O’Dell goal to cut Wideners lead to just three. Each team then scored an additional goal, which put the score to 6-3 at halftime.
Following the break, Etown’s Derek Kline tried to rally his team back into the game with a quick goal, but had no luck. Casey, who was Widener’s leading scorer of the day, hammered in his third goal immediately after, which seemed to suck the life out of the Blue Jays.
The Pride defense played extremely well the second half, allowing only one goal the entire time. Widener’s Nick Rodgers dominated face offs, giving his team the upper hand winning 17 of 20. Etown’s offense was outshot 37-35 during the game.
Etown’s defense was lead by sophomores Matt Frey and David Latimore, who each caused two turnovers. Widener had a total of 19 turnovers, 11 of which were caused by Etown. Frey said before the game that the defensive strategy was to “press out on matchups and not let up, getting the ball to the offense as quickly as possible.”
Nutting said that after the game Corcoran told them not to point fingers. They need to continue to focus on their own game and look ahead to the next matchup. The Blue Jays’ plan for the future is pretty simple: don’t worry about the individual opponent until game time and continually increase each player’s confidence and ability in every way possible.
The next few weeks provide the team with great opportunities to work on the areas that need improvement. They are playing just two games in the weeks ahead, including rival Messiah College next Saturday at a 7 p.m. game followed by Albright College April 20.
