The Colby men’s lacrosse went 1-1-0 this past week in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play. Both games came down to the very end, each game being decided by one goal. The past week’s action brings Colby to 4-5-0 overall and 2-4 in the high-powered NESCAC.

The midweek game against the Polar Bears from Bowdoin College came to a satisfying conclusion as tri-captain Mark Squicciarino ’11 scored in overtime to win the game for the Mules, 11-10.  The game started out evenly, with both teams scoring once in the first quarter.  Colby took a  4-2 lead into halftime, with John Jennings ’13 scoring both goals for the Mules. Jennings currently leads the Mules with 25 goals on the season and has the best shot percentage on the team.

“We had the momentum and were up by a couple goals, [but] then they came roaring back to take the lead,” Craig Bunker ’11 said after halftime. Lacrosse is a game of streaks, and Bowdoin had theirs in the third quarter, tallying five goals and taking a 7-5 lead. Colby “showed a lot of mental toughness and determination” in the fourth quarter, Bunker said, as Colby battled back from two deficits in the fourth quarter to force overtime.  Before Jennings’ sixth goal to tie the game at 9-9, Derrik Flahive ’13, Squicciarino and John McIvor ’12 scored for the Mules. Ian Deveau ’13 led all players with four assists, bringing him to a team-leading 13 on the year. Peter Reiley ’14 recorded a win for the Mules in goal.

Saturday’s game against Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. came to a less satisfying conclusion, as Colby looked to achieve a .500 record in the NESCAC with a win but left at .333 with a loss. The Cardinals entered the game ranked 18th nationally, so the Mules knew that they were in for a battle. The Mules took to the attack against the Cardinals and the teams traded goals, with Colby taking a 5-4 edge into halftime. 

Greg McKillop ’13 scored twice in the opening minutes of the second half, giving Colby a solid 7-4 lead.  However, the Mules had difficulty finding the back of the net after the pair from McKillop, and were unable to penetrate the Cardinal defense. Wesleyan, however, continued to produce, scoring thrice in the third to tie the game before tallying the game-winning goal with just under ten minutes remaining.

After the game, Bunker offered perspective on the team’s play: “Wesleyan was a tough game to swallow, since we shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers. We weren't able to put in goals at the end of the game when we needed to, which is very frustrating.” Bunker emphasized the solid play by the defense as well as Jennings’ consistent production. In the loss, Bunker surpassed the 600 faceoff wins mark and won 12 groundballs, giving him a team-leading 71 on the season.

Next week, the Mules will host two games. The midweek game will take place Wednesday at 7 p.m. against in-state rival the University of Southern Maine (USM). “USM is a well coached team that will be hungry to beat a NESCAC school. It is a team with some good athletes and will require a good performance to win,” Bunker said. The game on Saturday against Amherst College will be the men’s Code Blue game.