The Colorado College men’s lacrosse team opened their season against Sewanee University and Centre College this past weekend. The team traveled to both schools in Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively. Though the Tigers fell to Sewanee on Feb. 13, they came back and defeated Centre College on Feb. 15.
At Sewanee, the Tigers lost 5-11 and Sewanee held the team to only one goal in the first half of the contest.
“We played together, and we weren’t intentionally selfish but our starters felt like they had to elevate their role,” said Head Coach Sean Woods.
First-year attackman Robbie Stern tallied the Tigers’ first goal with 8:25 remaining in the second quarter. Sewanee held them scoreless through out the second half until sophomore attacker Jack McCormick used a feed from fellow sophomore Austin Davie to bring the Tigers to two goals on the game at 13:04 left in fourth quarter.
“We were down by a few goals and had to stick to the game plan but we didn’t,” said Woods.
The four late game goals weren’t enough to bring the Tigers back into competition.
The Tigers bounced back from a tough loss to Sewanee by defeating the Centre College Colonels 11-4. During this game, the weather served as an additional opponent.
“The temperature was in the low teens at faceoff,” said junior defender Tim Jenkins. “It was so cold, the coaches opted to put us in sweats.”
Despite adverse conditions and a conference contender, the Tigers held the Colonels to only four goals. Woods credits the team play.
“We were together as a full field,” said Woods. “We shared the ball on offense and communicated on defense. We had an all around full field effort that we were looking for.”
Jenkins led the defense for the Tigers, scooping up five ground balls and causing five turnovers. Senior midfielder Henri Halle paced the Tigers with a game-high three goals. With a full team effort, the Tigers were able to establish a win over the Colonels.
“Against Centre, we tried to get back to the fundamentals of our defense,” said Jenkins. “Especially after giving up some poor goals against Sewanee.”
The Tigers are looking to win the SCAC for the fourth time in the past five years and qualify for the NCAA playoffs, despite facing a tough schedule. They’re looking to play behind a fast paced offense and strong defense.
“We have the deepest defensive units that we’ve had since I’ve been at CC,” said junior defender Corey Boeschenstein.
“We can play more mentally tough,” said Coach Woods. “We’re going to give up goals and lose face-offs. How we respond is going to be paramount.”
The Tigers will be back in action against CSU Pueblo on Friday, Feb. 20.