Lacrosse Gets Their “Juicy, Crunchy Award”

This past Saturday, the University of Mary Washington men’s lacrosse team traveled to Dover, De. where they picked up another victory by knocking off Wesley College.

The men went into halftime with the score knotted at 7-7. UMW came out of the intermission rolling, as they quickly gained momentum and outscored the Wolverines 5-0 in the third period. Mary Washington kept increasing their lead into the fourth, as UMW scored the first three goals of the final period as well, making it nine unanswered goals for the Eagles dating back to the end of the first half. When the final whistle blew, Mary Washington had earned an impressive 16-8 victory.

Junior Harry Snyder vividly described his mentality on game day as similar to that of  “an anteater climbing on a hill of ants and knowing that if we dug our tongues far enough we would receive a juicy, crunchy award.”

Outstanding players for UMW were seniors Kohl Meyer, Mark Bowler, and Evan Weiss, who scored four, three and two goals, respectively. Meyer’s performance was deemed so excellent that he was honored as the CAC Player of the Week. Other Eagles that stepped up and contributed to the Eagles high level of play included sophomore Bryan Trammell and freshmen Chip Pittard and Joey Marson.

On the defensive front, juniors Will Devlin, Matt Vazquez, seniors Andrew Kohler and goalie Ryan Klemen did well to protect Mary Washington’s goal, with Klemen saving 17 attempts on the Eagle net.
Head coach Kurt Glaeser said that although he was satisfied with his team’s win from the weekend, he did see a point in the game where he believed his team could have given more.

“The team had a sluggish first half, especially defensively,” Glaeser said. “We are getting away with too much individual effort in clearing situations, and our riding can improve as well.”

In any case, the UMW men have been doing well recently, with their record improving to 9-5 on the season, and 5-2 in Capital Athletic Conference play. The Eagles currently sit in a tie for third place in the conference standings, trailing only Salisbury and Stevenson, who both remain undefeated against CAC competition. Coach Glaeser has been bringing his training sessions to shorter lengths but higher levels in anticipation of upcoming CAC action.

The men have been making minor strategy changes in order to work more collectively going forward. In addition, the UMW lacrosse team is looking to match the school’s record 11-win season, which this current teams is two games away from achieving.

Coach Glaeser is confident that his team can carry their success into the next games as the men have been able to “do the little things well and the wins take care of themselves”.

“At this time of the year, I want them to be mentally fresh,” Gleaser said. “It’s tough to beat good teams if we don’t have the emotional energy. Physically, I hope we’ll keep playing team offense & defense and trust the system.”

Today, April 14, the men’s lacrosse team will host York College at the Battlegrounds at 4 p.m in a crucial conference battle. York is the other team tied for third with Mary Washington in the CAC standings, meaning that the winner of this regular season finale will take the three-seed heading into the upcoming CAC Tournament.