Courtesy of Brian Beard

Last Friday afternoon, the men’s lacrosse team (9–1; 5–1 NESCAC) cruised to a 13–5 victory over Hamilton College (3–6; 1–5 NESCAC) behind a standout performance from attacker Patrick Fitzgerald ’25, who scored a season-high seven goals—four of them coming consecutively in the final quarter.

Fitzgerald’s offense came off a dominant week, as he recorded three goals and assists in the Polar Bears’ 12–6 win against Babson College (8–3) last Wednesday night. Due to his pair of standout performances, Fitzgerald was named NESCAC Player of the Week.

Despite a slow start and ending the first quarter tied 1–1, with Huck Trafton ’27 scoring in response to Hamilton’s early man-up goal, Bowdoin found its rhythm midway through the second quarter. The Polar Bears strung together three goals in the final minutes of the half to take a 4–1 lead into the break.

Midfielder Jed Hoggard ’25 opened the second half with a momentum-shifting goal directly off the faceoff.

“It just kind of opened up in front of me,” Hoggard said. “I didn’t even see the goal go in. I just remember shooting and falling and then hearing people yell. That play gave us a spark and helped our team get going.”

According to Jason Lach ’25, the goal immediately changed the tone of the game.

“The bench kind of went crazy—it was a spark play,” Lach said. “That created momentum that we ended up picking up on and stacking more plays.”

Hoggard’s goal was followed by a goal from Chris Berry ’27, tallies from Lach and two more from Fitzgerald, which gave Bowdoin a 9–3 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Hamilton briefly responded to open the final frame, but Fitzgerald put the game out of reach with four straight goals. Overall, Berry added a pair, while Lach and Trafton each contributed a goal and multiple assists, with three for Lach and two for Trafton.

Trafton said the team’s approach was built on targeting key matchups.

“We really schemed our offense to attack their short sticks,” Trafton said. “They hadn’t been sliding off them in other games, and they were reluctant to slide off guys like [Fitzgerald] and [Lach]. So I was able to beat my man and get to the front of the cage.”

Lach emphasized the offense’s commitment to ball movement.

“We play our best when we move the ball and stay fast,” Lach said. “We’ve got a lot of athletes who can make plays. When it doesn’t get stagnant, the plays play themselves out.”

According to Lach, this year’s offense has become more versatile.

“It’s definitely the most amorphous offense we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Lach said. “It’s very fluid and positionless at times. It’s been a good challenge, and we’ve done a great job with it.”

Fitzgerald also noted how the offensive unit has grown since the start of the season.

“We’ve had a lot of guys play really well. Some younger players have had to step into big roles, and they’ve handled it with maturity,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re still getting better, and I think we’re in a great spot.”

Beau Burns ’25 went 13-for-19 on faceoffs and collected seven ground balls, while Robert Hobbs ’25 recorded 17 saves in goal to anchor the defense.

Hoggard both pointed to the team’s aggressive defensive scheme as a key element of its success.

“There’s a statistic that says if you get a turnover on a clear, there’s a 50 percent chance you’ll score,” Hoggard said. “We’ve been using that to our advantage.”

As the team turned to an in-state rival this week, players expected the Hamilton game’s momentum to carry into Wednesday evening’s home game against Bates College (7–4; 2–4 NESCAC). The team ended up dominating over the Bobcats 17–7.

“Bates is always a big one. [We are] two teams in Maine that don’t like each other much,” Lach said.

Fitzgerald called it a game that “gets hyped up” and said the team was focused on matching Bates’ energy.

With ten games behind them, players said the team has grown steadily, on and off the field.

“A lot of younger guys have stepped up into major roles,” Lach said. “We’ve meshed really well. We haven’t looked back.”