Men's LAX Spring Break: Facing Off With Lynchburg

With two games on the East Coast under their belts, the Whittier College men's lacrosse team had two days before they met up with national powerhouse Lynchburg College.  It was a time for some battered Poets bodies to get some rest.

The first day off was spent in Roanoke, and it was time for a team activity that wasn't related to lacrosse.  So after breakfast, the team hopped on the bus and headed to the nearest bowling alley.  Bragging rights were on the line as the players and coaches split up into teams, put on their goofy bowling shoes and hit the lanes.  A number of players showed their skills beyond lacrosse, including Brad Sollenberger '08 who had a perfect game going through five frames; the team holding its collective breath with every roll.  And Dan Aas '08 who, despite an injury to his dominant right hand, went lefty and still commanded the lanes.

The second game at the lanes is where things got interesting: the winning team earns the right to choose dinner, and the losing team gets stuck on laundry duty before the next game.  It came down to the final pins, as assistant coach James Morgan's team took the top spot with head coach Nate Watkins and his squad getting stuck on laundry detail.  It was a team bonding experience that eased the minds of a team facing a four-game losing streak and a number of injuries.

The next day, the team packed up and headed to Lynchburg.  Assistant coach Danny McCormick selected the movie for the trip, "The Warriors".  The movie choice was cause for concern for a number of players, seeing how the movie is almost 30 years old.  But the guys embraced it, and for the rest of the day, there was a constant echo of "Warriors, come out to plaaaay!"

They arrived in Lynchburg and had a short practice on the lacrosse field.  Hecklers passing by on their way to class or the dorms gave the Poets a taste of the hostile environment they would be facing the following night.  

A relaxed day followed; the team went back to Lynchburg for the pre-game walk through as both players and coaches focused on the night ahead.  It was a perfect night for lacrosse as the team arrived back at the field later that evening.  

The #2 Lynchburg College Maroons wasted no time getting things going against the undermanned Poets.  They scored two goals in the first two minutes and never trailed in the game.  Anthony Lackey '09 scored the first Poet goal at the 10:51 mark on an assist from Kevin McCarroll '08.  Lynchburg added two more goals in the opening quarter to make the score 4-1.  

The Poets scored just one goal in each of the first three quarters.  Christian Wright '10 scored Whittier's second quarter goal amongst six from the Maroons.  The score was 10-2 at the halftime break.

Lynchburg scored six second half goals to the Poets' four as they took the 16-6 victory.  Chuck Wagner '08 scored in the third.  Colt Adams '11 scored twice in the fourth and Lackey added his second goal of the game.  After being dominated in the first half groundball battle 21-6, the Poets improved to win the second half ground ball tally with 18 to the Maroon's 15.  

Ben Brown '09 made 13 saves in the game, a number of which were from point-blank range.

There's one game left on the Spring Break schedule, as the team heads towards the nation's capitol to take on Marymount University in Arlington, Va., on April 5.