A four-goal third quarter, part of a seven-goal run overall, was enough to give the men’s lacrosse team an 11-5 win against Nazareth College at Higgins Stadium and put the South Hill squad in a tie for first in the Empire 8 Conference.
Sophomore midfielder Jake Long scored twice in the second quarter, including a goal with twenty seconds left in the first half to give the Bombers a 5-2 lead at halftime. Early in the third, sophomore midfielder Casey Schattner picked up a ground ball and scored in transition to stretch the Bombers lead to four.
Senior attack Devin Weinshank, who scored twice, said Schattner’s goal was crucial for the Blue and Gold.
“We felt like we never had a good second half,” Weinshank said. “So we thought it was important to start on the right foot and that goal right off the bat helped us.”
The Bombers’ defense was dominant for the entire game and kept their opponents to fewer than ten goals for the fifth consecutive game. Senior defenseman Marc Roberts said the unit’s cohesiveness was vital.
“Our communication was there from start to finish.” Roberts said. “It started with Greeno [senior goalie Brendan Green] and went to our close defense and to any of our middies coming on, we were all on the same page.”
Despite a highly polished performance, Head Coach Jeff Long said that there was still something missing.
“I didn’t think that we played a full sixty minutes and that could come back to bite us in a close game.” Long said. “I also felt that we were a little lackadaisical towards the end of the fourth quarter.”
Long also said junior midfielder Andrew Bruce left the game due to a knee injury but he does not believe it to be serious.
The Bombers improve to 7—3 overall and 2—0 in the Empire 8. They share the top spot in the conference with St. John Fisher who upset seventh-ranked Stevens 15-12 today in Rochester. With the loss, Stevens falls a half game behind the Bombers and Cardinals. The Blue and Gold travel to Rochester, N.Y. to play fourth ranked Rochester Institute of Technology at 4 p.m. Wednesday and will face Fisher on Saturday.
