Men’s Lacrosse: A Blowout Win And An OT Loss

Lily Ives ’23

Sports Editor

April play started out with a furious bang for the Trinity men’s lacrosse team. On Saturday, Apr. 2, the Bantams faced off against the SUNY Maritime Privateers at the Jessee/Miller Field and recorded a dominating 20-4 win. Senior Connor McCulloch opened up scoring for the Bantams off of a feed from junior Cullen Wolff, less than three minutes into the first quarter. Junior William Puccio scored the second goal for the Bantams, which would end up being just one of his five goals netted.

In the game’s first half, the Bantams shot out of the gate with a 4-1 lead in the first quarter. The second quarter was tighter, as the Bantams only outscored the Privateers by one goal, taking as 7-3 lead into halftime. The tight second quarter might have given some hope to the Privateers, but unfortunately for them the second half of the game was all Bantams, all the time.

The Trinity men shutout SUNY Maritime 6-0 in the third quarter and saved their heaviest-scoring quarter of the game for the fourth, racking up 7 goals to the Pioneers 1. The Bantams took home the win with a final score of 20-4, with dominant performances being turned in by Puccio and his five goals, junior Ryan Werner who registered a hat-trick and an assist, junior Jake Baker who had a pair of goals and assists, and sophomore Tyler DeSimone who had a pair of goals and an assist. Bantam Sophomore Dane Crawley showcased his skill and scrappiness winning 19 out of the 22 faceoffs and picking up an impressive 13 ground balls. 

Only four days after the strong performance and blowout win versus the SUNY Maritime Privateers, the Bantams were handed a gut-wrenching overtime loss by the Connecticut College Camels. The Bantams faced off against the Camels on Wednesday, Apr. 6, with the first goal of the game being scored by the Camels. The Bantams then answered with two consecutive goals delivered from the sticks of junior Andrew Fearey and senior Luke Valentino, to end the first quarter with a score of 2-1 in favor of the Bants.

The game continued to be a tight contest, with Trinity holding the biggest lead of the game toward the end of the fourth quarter with a two-goal advantage of 6-4. The Bantams had seemingly secured the game, being up by two goals with 35 seconds left, however the Camels then desperately raced-off and scored two consecutive goals forcing the game into overtime.

The Camels were able to capitalize in overtime play with the momentum in their favor, scoring only 56 seconds into the extra game play, winning the nail-biting contest with a score of 7-6. McCulloch had half of Trinity’s goals with a hat-trick on the day, and four groundballs, while sophomore Matt Pecora, Valentino, and Fearey, all tallied one goal. The Trinity men’s lacrosse team now has a record of 5-4 in overall play, and 1-4 in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) competition.