QU Lacrosse head coach Erik Fekete has hopes of re-crafting an ailing program and leading his group to a rebound year in the immensely talented America East, but the Bobcats have essentially picked up where they left off last season. The ‘Cats, picked sixth out of the seven teams in the A.E. Conference in the pre-season coaches poll, have undergone an early 0-6 free-fall.
The March 5 season opener resulted in a 16-9 loss to the Big Green of Dartmouth College at their Hanover, N.H. venue, Scully-Fahey Field. Four consecutive first quarter goals put the Bobcats in a hole they couldn’t crawl out of. The Big Green’s Jamie Coffin, Alec Hufnagel, Ryan Danehy and Nick Bonacci all tallied goals to facilitate an early start. The Big Green continued to attack the goal throughout the second quarter, scoring on five more unanswered goals before sophomore Jason Barratt connected on a goal as halftime approached.
The Bobcats clawed back from a 10-1 deficit in the beginning of the third quarter, as Josh Murray notched back to back goals. After a goal from Coffin, who finished with five goals, Murray responded with his third goal of the game to slice the Dartmouth lead to nine. The Bobcats then went on a late tear, outscoring their opponents 5-2 to finish out the game. It wouldn’t be enough.
Murray and Tucker Prudden paced the Bobcats with three goals apiece. Freshman goalie Roger Fish, who was not aware that he’d got the starting job until the night before, collected 14 saves in his collegiate debut.
Despite solid outings from Sean McBride (3 goals) and Eddie Morley (3 saves), the Bobcats weren’t able to hang with No. 16 Brown at Providence, R.I., falling by a score of 14-7 on March 13.
Cut forward to the Bobcats’ mid-March Ohio trip a week later, when the team’s frustration hit its peak. After taking a heart-pounding, 12-11 overtime loss to Butler University (Ind.), the Ohio State Buckeyes then roasted the Bobcats, 15-2, leaving them at 0-4.
After roaring back from an early five goal deficit, the Bobcats scored three straight goals to take an 11-10 lead with two minutes remaining. Butler’s Nick Vosburgh scored a clutch goal with just two seconds left in regulation to force overtime. In the extra session, Butler midfielder Cliff Smith found the net, depriving the Bobcats of their first victory of the season.
The ‘Cats pulled to within three with 3:29 remaining in the second quarter against OSU, but the Buckeyes went on a relentless surge, scoring 10 unanswered goals to finish the game.
Inclement weather postponed the Bobcats’ game against Yale (originally set for March 8) to March 22. Quinnipiac fell to their Ivy League foe by a 13-3 margin, with the Bulldogs fueling an early 7-0 run to put the game out of reach.
The Bobcats then followed this up with a 12-10 loss to No. 18 Stony Brook, in their first taste of America East action. With goalkeeper James Nastro, who recorded 15 saves on the day, consistently making eye popping stops, the Bobcats clicked offensively to make a late game rally.
Midfielder Jon D’Ascoli and attackman Barratt both scored goals to cut the Seawolves’ lead to two with 3:01 left in regulation. But Stony Brook held off the Bobcats last charge and prevailed.
