The Colby men’s lacrosse team has reported mixed results since its thrilling overtime win against Williams College on March 12. The Mules now stand at 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).

The Mules played host to Plymouth State University on March 17 before starting their spring break trip. Colby dominated the Panthers 13-3 to take its second straight victory. In the win, senior tri-captain Craig Bunker surpassed both the 500 face-off wins mark and 300 groundballs mark. John Jennings ’13 had four goals in the game, including three during a six-goal stretch for the Mules that put the game away before halftime. Tri-captain Mark Squicciarino ’11 and Ian Deveau ’13 each had two goals and three assists.

To start off spring break, the Mules played the defending Division III National Champions from Tufts University. Tufts came out strong during the second quarter to put down the Mules as they outscored Colby 6-1. However, the Mules played the Jumbos evenly the rest of the game; both teams recorded eight goals apiece in the remaining three quarters and Colby won the majority of face offs and tallied a big advantage in shots taken (48-31). The sophomore duo, Deveau and Jennings, led the scoring with four and three goals, respectively, but the Mules clearly struggled to finish their shots, with too many hitting the goalie or flying outside of the goal area completely.

The next game against St. Lawrence University was more of the same as the Mules tallied a large shot advantage, but recorded few goals. In the 8-4 loss, Deveau and Jennings had two goals each and Squicciarino and Derrik Flahive ’13 added an assist apiece. Colby trailed 3-2 at the half, and then was shutout in the third quarter while the Saints’ offense produced three goals.

The Mules regained their winning ways in another non-conference game against Castleton State College, improving their record to 3-2. Colby found its stride in the third quarter, outscoring the Spartans 4-1, which allowed the team to take a 7-4 lead into the fourth quarter. Scott Margolis ’12 tallied two goals while John Moriarty ’11, Jonathan McIvor ’12 and Ian Boldt ’14 each scored one. Bjorn Knutson ’13 had an assist and continued to make the most of his chances on face-offs, winning every opportunity. Peter Reiley ’14 continued to be solid in net, making nine saves.

Colby wrapped up its spring break with a home game against 19th ranked Trinity College. The Mules’ defense played well in a 6-5 loss, but Trinity used two quick offensive spurts to rack up its goals. The Bantams scored three goals in the first six minutes of the game, and two goals during a two-minute span in the third period. Although Trinity managed only one other goal for the remainder of the match, Trinity’s defense was too much for the Mules. Bunker won 13 of 15 face off attempts.

Regarding the week, Bunker said, “Spring break was a great trip. We have a lot of time together, so it's a good opportunity to bond as a team. We didn't play as well as we could have, but coming back to Colby gave us a chance to regroup and recharge for the second half of the season.”

The Middlebury game was another tough one for the Mules, as they did well statistically, but could not find the back of the net in an 11-6 loss to the Panthers. Colby played evenly with Middlebury through the first half, but were outscored 7-2 after the break. Colby had 53 shots, but only 23 of them were on goal. After the game, Bunker had some optimistic comments about the team’s efforts.
“Middlebury was a difficult game to swallow. [In the second half] we started to play out of our systems and lost our composure. The bright side is that we have played against multiple top- 15 teams so far this season, and we are a few plays away from beating each one of those teams.”

Accuracy is something that the Mules hope to improve on for their next game against Bowdoin College. As of the Middlebury game, Colby’s shot percentage was at a low .189 as compared to their opponents’ combined percentage of .323. Besides such statistics, Colby looks to be doing well and works to improve on their finishing.