Courtesy of Brian Beard

The men’s lacrosse team (7–1; 3–1 NESCAC) started its season strong with a six-game winning streak but fell short to Amherst College (6–0; 4–0 NESCAC) last Sunday and then rebounded with a win against Babson College (6–3) on Wednesday. As the team enters the second half of its season, the Polar Bears hope to continue their success.

After the Amherst loss, attacker Chris Berry ’27 had a positive mentality looking forward.

“I think we are ready to bounce back. I think we will bounce back pretty hard,” Berry said.

Despite graduating 18 players last year, the team has found success with its new roster. Contributions from younger players have been notable, resulting in a deep roster for the Polar Bears this season, according to attacker Patrick Fitzgerald ’25.

“We’ve had a lot of guys play really well—it really hasn’t been one or two people that have had success. It includes some senior guys, some younger guys that are playing a really big role and some freshmen stepping into new roles,” Fitzgerald said.  “So I think we’ve had a lot of contributing factors, and it’s made it tough for teams to stop us when we are not one-dimensional in that regard.”

The team has also seen offensive success, scoring upwards of 20 goals in several games. Attacker Jason Lach ’25 attributes the offensive success to team chemistry, camaraderie and mutual respect. Lach saw his own success this week in the Babson game’s fourth quarter, when he broke the previous record of 177 goals held by Judd Newkirk ’97, becoming the all-time leading scorer in program history.

“Being selfless, moving the ball and just being happy with whoever scores is when we are at our best. We see a lot of production from our whole offensive roster, which is great,” Lach said.

Attacker Casey Ryan ’27 elaborated on how the team’s current focus is to stick to these principles. Phrases such as “buy in,” “win or draw mentality” and “leave no doubt” keep the team grounded both at practice and in tight games.

“Something we always talk about is ‘next-play mentality,’ where if something goes wrong on the field, that’s behind us. What matters is how you bounce back,” Ryan said.

On Wednesday, the Polar Bears faced Babson at home. The team emphasized the importance  and competitive nature of this matchup.

“[The Babson team] is good. I think they’re a top-20-in-the-country opponent, and it’s always a big game. In my three years here we’ve won both my freshman [and] sophomore year by one goal, and last year they upset us at Babson, ” Lach said.

After the win against Babson, the team will return to NESCAC play, facing Hamilton College (3–4; 1–3 NESCAC) at 1 p.m. today on Whittier Field in its first weekend home game of the season.