Men’s lacrosse boosts standing with two key wins
Tim Neer, Staff Writer
April 12, 2012
Filed under Sports
The Le Moyne men’s lacrosse team went into last week as the nation’s no. 2 team, looking to bolster its record and draw closer to securing a NCAA tournament bid as it rolls into the final stretch of the regular season.
With a perfect 8-0 record (3-0 in NE-10 conference play), the Dolphins faced a couple of conference foes as they traveled to Franklin Pierce on Wednesday, April 4 and, on Saturday, hosted arguably the biggest challenge of the season thus far, Merrimack. Merrimack entered the week undefeated and found itself just behind Le Moyne in the national polls at no. 3.
This showdown between national powerhouses carried heavy significance, as the winner would gain sole position at the top of the Northeast-10 conference standings and gain valuable national recognition for a tournament bid with the season winding down.
Franklin Pierce entered Wednesday’s game with a 4-3 record, unranked and 29th in the country according to lax power’s computer rankings for Division 2. On the field, the Ravens proved an inferior opponent as the Dolphins cruised to a 9-2 win.
Leading the ‘Phins were Nick Blumer and Nate Frechette, who each made two goals. Frechette added an assist as well.
Junior goalkeeper Jeff White continued his fantastic season in net, stopping all six shots he faced in the game’s first 35 minutes as the team went into halftime with a 7-0 lead.
On Saturday, the no. 3 Merrimack College Warriors served as a far greater challenge. Less than one minute in, the Dolphins took the first lead of the game from the stick of Nick Blumer, his sixth tally of the season and the first of his three goals on the day.
Besides this early one goal lead, the Dolphins were either tied with or trailed the warriors until Chris Button’s 10th goal of the season, a side arm ripper to the top corner, provided the winning edge with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Le Moyne proved to be an extremely resilient team, coming from behind to tie the game four different times. Jeff White made five stops in the win, while Tyler Sennett contributed two assists and a goal off of a role dodge which gave the Dolphins a two goal cushion late in the fourth.
The final score was 8-6 and the win placed the Dolphins at the top of the NE-10 conference standings with a perfect overall record of 10-0, and 5-0 in the conference. This win also gave the ‘Phins their 50th straight conference win in Le Moyne history.
The Dolphins will face Bentley away this Saturday, April 14, at 1 p.m.