The Colorado College men’s lacrosse team blew past Adams State University in a 22-12 victory last Saturday afternoon at ASU.
The Tigers are looking to build on this win. “It’s a confidence boost, but we still know we haven’t played up to our full potential yet,” said senior midfielder Dylan Davie.
CC freshman midfielder Jackson Kaplan opened the scoring seven seconds into the game with his first-ever collegiate goal, giving the team momentum right off the bat.
The first quarter went back and forth, with the Tigers and Grizzlies exchanging the lead multiple times until CC junior midfielder Eric Neumeyer ripped a shot past the ASU goalie to start a six-goal Tiger run. Davie tallied four consecutive goals during the run, heading a 10-4 Tiger lead midway through the second quarter.
The Grizzlies battled back to within 12-8 six minutes into the second half, but Davie answered 30 seconds later to spark a 7-1 surge that gave CC a 19-9 lead with only 8:23 remaining in the game.
“ASU was a great team win playing our brand of lacrosse,” said sophomore midfielder Connor Haney. “With some tough games ahead, it was a good reminder of how good we can be.”
Senior midfielder Henri Halle finished with three goals and three assists, while Neumeyer scored twice and had an assist. Senior midfielder Taylor Paul and sophomore attacker Austin Davie each found the net twice.
“We dominated from the moment we stepped on the field,” said Davie. “We had a lot of guys
scoring goals, picking up ground balls and just overall making hustle plays.”
“Our coach preaches a sort of ‘you play good, we play great’ philosophy, where when everyone does their job it results in us collectively playing great team lacrosse,” explained Haney. “We’ve had moments and spurts of very high levels of play, but now is the time of year to put together four quarters of great lacrosse, and I think we are in a good position to do that.”
CC, now 8-3, travels to Whittier College next Friday for the fifth-annual battle for the Locker-Stabler Cup. The Tigers beat Whittier last year in an overtime thriller, which eventually helped CC clinch a bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
“We know that Whittier is pretty fired up at the opportunity to play us on their home turf,” said Haney. “This week’s practice has focused on mental toughness and team defense because we know that they are going to come out strong.”
“When we are playing our best there are only a few teams in the division that can hang with us,” Davie added. “If we show up and put a full game together, we will be successful.”