Men’s Lacrosse Drops First Game of the Season Against Williams

The men’s lacrosse team finished arguably its most difficult week of the season with a big 14-9 win over Wesleyan followed by the team’s first loss of the season at the hands of Williams College, 13-11. Both games of last week started and ended in the first quarter. During Wednesday’s game against Wesleyan, Amherst was able to jump out to a quick 5-1 lead after the first 15 minutes. The Mammoths came out humming, with their well-tuned offense already primed for game time. Attackmen Jon Coffey ’20 and Evan Wolf ’19 set the pace early, with Coffey netting two goals in the first five minutes of play and Wolf creating scoring opportunities early with assists to Coffey and Andrew Ford ’19. After an answered goal by Wesleyan, Wolf was able to score his first of the afternoon, with Jack Norton ’19 scoring the Mammoths’ fifth goal of the quarter with a minute of play left.

In Saturday’s match against the Ephs, it was Amherst who fell behind quickly in the first, 6-2. An uncharacteristic lack of care for the ball resulted in the Mammoths turning over the ball 10 times in the first half.

The next three quarters for both games felt eerily similar, in that both games saw an incredibly even three quarters after lopsided firsts. In Wednesday’s game, Amherst and Wesleyan proceeded to play nearly dead even for the next 45 minutes. Following that dominant first quarter, the Mammoths and Cardinals were nearly identical on the stat sheet in the following quarters of play. In the second half alone, Amherst and Wesleyan were nearly even in shots taken, ground balls and turnovers.

On Saturday, Amherst’s game of catch-up fell just short in the fourth quarter, with the Mammoths falling to the Ephs 13-11.

This action left the Mammoths with a 10-1 record and a drop to No. 5 in the national rankings, confusingly just behind two-loss Wesleyan Looking at the NESCAC standings, Amherst’s defeat to Williams also ties the team in the loss column with Bates and Tufts.

Amherst, however, had a chance at NESCAC redemption when they faced Conn. College on Tuesday night at home. They demolished the Camels 23-8. Camels only scored thier goals after the Mammoths lifted their feet from the pedal. Amherst will host Tufts this Saturday at 1 p.m.