Men's lacrosse split their games this week against the University of Southern Maine (USM) and Amherst College. The Mules won down in Gorham, Maine over the Huskies, but fell to the Lords Jeffs in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play. The 1-1 record for the week puts Colby at 7-5 overall, and drops them under .500 in NESCAC games, at 3-4. Looking ahead, Colby only has two more chances to improve their record in the NESCAC. After their last non-Conference game against Maine Maritime Academy on the 20th, the Mules will host Connecticut College this Saturday at 1 pm and then wrap up the regular season with a Friday game at Bates on April 30th.

The weekend contest was a tough pill to swallow. The game was statistically the worst of the season for the Mules. Amherst scored twelve goals, which was a season high allowed for the Mules defense. Similarly, Colby's offense only managed five goals, a season low. However, despite the lopsided score, a six minute span of the game been erased, the score would have been a respectable 7-5. In the second quarter, after Scott Margolis '12 scored one of his two goals, tying the game at 2-2, the Lord Jeff's scored five straight goals, including two goals in five seconds, putting the Mules in an insurmountable hole.

Colby had standout performances by juniors Mark Squicciarino and Craig Bunker. Squicciarino had two goals and two assists, while Bunker continued to own in faceoffs, winning 12 of 18, and continues to hold the top faceoff win percentage in Division III lacrosse. Whit McCarthy '10 scored the other goal for Colby. Colby had ten penalties in the game versus Amherst's five. Amherst took advantage of those opportunities, scoring three goals in man-up advantages.

Colby won the mid-week game against USM in convincing fashion. USM (2-7) found themselves in a hole early, down 5-0 early in the second period. Colby worked in lots of players and spread the ball well. This was evident as the first five goals were scored by four different players. Jonathon McIvor '12, McCarthy, Ian Deveau '13, and Stew Brown '10 contributed early. The fourth goal of the game was especially important for McCarthy, as it was his 100th in his career as a Mule. He finished up the game with a game high four goals and two assists to raise his career stats to 102 goals and 29 assists. Derrik Flahive '13, Margolis and Squicciarino also joined in on the scoring later in the game.

Bunker won 13 of 18 faceoffs and scooped up a game high seven groundballs. Colby overall out-hustled USM, which pleased Coach John Thompson, and ended the game with a decisive 41-26 advantage in groundballs. Freshman Patrick Gilligan played some time in net for the Mules in both games after starting goalie Tom Gianakos was pulled out of both games by Thompson late in each game.

The next weekend game for the Mules will be a big home NESCAC game that will help decide seeding for the NESCAC tournament. They would love your support at Bill Alfond field at 1pm on the 24th.