The men’s lacrosse team’s season ended last Saturday in a heartbreaking overtime loss to Wesleyan in the NESCAC Quarterfinals. The fifth-seeded Polar Bears concluded their season with a record of 8-7 while the fourth-seeded Cardinals improved to 12-4 and continue on to play top-seeded Middlebury this coming weekend.
In the first quarter, Wesleyan was quick to take a 2-1 lead. The Polar Bears answered forcefully, rallying to end the first half up 6-3 and forcing Wesleyan to change goaltenders. In the third quarter, Wesleyan tied the score by racking up three unanswered goals.
The Polar Bears regained their footing in the fourth quarter, when Peter Reuter ’16 scored to regain the lead. Minutes later, however, Wesleyan responded with a goal of its own, bringing the score to 7-7 and forcing the game into overtime. The teams traded possession in the first few minutes of overtime before Wesleyan was able to capitalize with 1:21 left, by sinking a hard shot into the back of the net, ending the game 8-7.
“I think that the biggest disappointment is that we were in such a good place coming out of March, and we just kind of slid in April,” said Head Coach Jason Archbell. “It’s not how you want to end the season.”
Last Saturday’s loss wrapped up Archbell’s first season with the team. According to him, the second half of the season sealed the team’s fate.
“Failure to execute when we needed to, injuries, lack of depth—things like that all compounded on each other,” he said. “In the end, as head coach, you take responsibility for it because it’s your job.”
Despite Saturday’s loss, Archbell remains optimistic about the season and his players.
“We did some really great things this year, and there was a lot accomplished,” he said. “We’re a lot better than where we ended up.”
This year, the team will graduate 11 seniors, each of which, according to Archbell, contributed enormously to the attitude and success of the team. Next year, Archbell said he hopes to use the experience he gained this season to better prepare his team for the difficulties of the NESCAC schedule.