Men’s lacrosse defeated in opener

By Quinn Burgard

The UMW men’s lacrosse team started off their season playing against Hampden-Sydney College on Saturday, Feb 8.

The team came into the game with high energy but unfortunately were defeated 13-21. However, this did not defeat the Eagles in spirit. The team is very optimistic for a strong season from here on out.

Hampden-Sydney scored twice in the first quarter, five and six minutes into the game. The Eagles quickly matched the score with two goals being scored by Kevin Cruz, followed by two more by Chase Kapuscienski and J.D. Nozemack. Following this, Hampden-Sydney scored three goals, one of which was scored 30 seconds before the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Kristophe Newman and J.D. Nozemack scored, ending the first half with a score of 6-11 in Hampden-Sydney’s favor.

Only one minute into the third quarter, Kapuscienski scored again with an assist from Bryant Baus, reigniting the crowd’s attention. Three more goals were scored by Will Hackett, Nick Clingan and Kevin Cruz, but this wasn’t enough for the Eagles to pull ahead. The quarter ended with a score of 10-17.

Three goals were scored within the first eight minutes of the quarter by Kristophe Newman, Logan Green and Nick Clingan. In an attempt to switch up their defense, the Eagles changed their goalie from Lucas Whittie to Nathaniel Holic. However with four goals being scored by Hampden-Sydney, the Eagles stayed behind.

With five minutes left in the game, J.D. Nozemack suffered an injury from being hit to the ground, forcing him to exit the game.

Despite the effort and energy that the Eagles played with, UMW was defeated 13-21.

Drew Delaney, the head coach of the team, kept a positive outlook. “I’m obviously disappointed with the score, but we’ve got a really young group with a lot of new faces who are all learning how to win together,” Delaney said. “I am without a doubt optimistic about the upcoming season. We’ve got a great group of guys who have been working really hard.”

Kevin Cruz, an attacker who played admirably with three goals scored and one assist, has a similar outlook.

“We had a whole bunch of new faces, I know me and J.D. are transfers, it’s our first season here. But we played really well in the fall and it helped us get to where we are right now. Obviously the score wasn’t what we wanted but if we played all four quarters the way we played the first quarter it would have been the same score but in our favor,” said Cruz.

Cruz said he is also hoping for a successful and challenging season. “It’s new and it’s exciting for us and I think we just have to take it one game at a time. I think we’re gonna have a good season, probably better than past seasons just with the guys that we have right now.”

Logan Green, another attacker, also shows the Eagle’s positive energy. “I think it was a good first game. It wasn’t the outcome that we wanted but as a young team I think we did a lot of things really well for it only being our third week into the season.”

Green said, “I think there’s a lot of potential to have a good year. We play a really tough schedule every year and that’s what we want. We’re gonna have some tough games and it’s not gonna be perfect but it’s a big growing year for us and it will be fun.”

UMW’s men’s lacrosse team will have a chance to turn things around on Saturday, Feb. 15, when they host Shenandoah University for their second game of the season.