Bants Explode for 11 Second Half Goals to Beat Bates 13-5

It was another wet, cold day on Robin L. Sheppard field as we geared up to face the Bobcats. We knew that the game would be a tough one as Bates had easily handled Amherst earlier this year and almost upset Tufts last week. We were prepared for another great NESCAC battle!

We entered the game especially focused and excited, as today was the last regular season Saturday game for our Seniors, Spanz, Sconch, Pecks and Disa. All four have been tremendous contributors to the program over the course of their four years:

Spanz has been a constant source of positive energy and has worked hard to improve her game from her freshman year. She has become one of the most threatening attackers in the league and an important leader and voice for us on the field. Spanz is a true team player and we would not be the same team, on or off the field, with out her.

Sconch has been a huge contributor over her four years, playing several different positions on the defensive end and always happy to do so, knowing it was for the good of the team. She has helped a young defense mature to the point where we are playing our best right now. Her leadership and committment to the team have been incredible this year.

Pecks has been a pleasure to watch mature over the last few seasons. While she's not big in stature she makes up for it in heart and hustle! She has been the spark plug on the field this year, scooping up groundballs and making big plays (like scoring the game winners against Bates and Williams)!

Disa has been the heart and soul of the midfield for the last several seasons. There is no statistic for what Disa provides in transition in speed and skill. She has one of the steadiest sticks on the team and is a fierce defender to match up with. While her voice is often quiet, her committment and passion for Trinity Lacrosse are big and evident in everything she does.

While we were excited and ready to go from the first whistle, the first half did not exactly go according to plan. In fact, it was our least productive offensive half of the season, only scoring 2 goals over the first 30 minutes. Fortunately, Bates was experiencing the same difficulties as we were and they managed only 2 goals as well, so we headed into the break tied at 2-2.

The second half is where the fun began. After battling the elements and a fiesty Bates defense, we finally settled into the pace of play and began to take better care of the ball. We finally started to catch Bates out of position and earned some free positions early in the half, with Rachel and Spanz both connecting on their scoring opportunities. Jenn contributed to this offensive spurt and we stretched out our lead to 5-2.

Bates made things interesting over the course of the next several minutes, scoring 3 of the games' next four goals, making it a one goal game, at 6-5. Sandwiched in between the Bates tallies, was Lauren Pecks' all important 6th goal of the game, the eventual game winner and only her 2nd on the season! Very timely and a great motivator for the rest of the team.

Sarah Remes then started what would be an unanswered 7 goal run by us to finish off the Bobcats. Remer converted on a free position with just over 16 minutes to play in the half. Over the course of the next 6 minutes we would score 6 goals, 3 by Rachel, 2 by Alisen, and another one by Pecks! It was an incredible offensive burst and provided us the necessary breathing room for the last 10 minutes of play.

What made this stretch of play so incredible was the defensive pressure in the midfield. Annie Cook and Liz Bruno were studs in transition, coming up with critical ground balls and caused turnovers to deny Bates any offensive possession time. If Bates did manage to settle the ball in our defensive end, Sconch, Carrie W. Gina and Kayla helped to lead a very tough settled defense. Our defense was patient and loud and very effective in working together as a team to limit any good looks by Bates and to come up with turnovers. It was a fantastic effort against a very threatening attack.

The last 8 minutes of the game was not highlighted by defensive play or goal scoring but rather by possession as we did not want to give Bates any more time with the ball in their stick. We executed a beautiful possession offense where we had the Bates defenders very frustrated as they could not, desperate as they were, win the ball against our great passing game.

The win means that we are 5-2 in the conference, currently ranked 3rd with an important game coming up against Middlebury next weekend. They also only have 2 losses in the conference so we will be battling for a top spot as we face off in Middlebury, VT. Hope to see you there!