11-10. A score that is not friendly to the Le Moyne College lacrosse teams and their fans. Whenever Le Moyne loses a lacrosse game, it is a shocking event. With such a strong culture of winning it’s something that doesn’t happen often. Especially after both men and women won the NE-10 conference championship last year. So to see both teams lose this past weeks was not expected and a spectacle that hasn’t occurred in some time.
There is hope to be had for the men’s team. Despite their loss to Merrimack at Ted Grant Field on May 2nd 11-10 they should be playing again this season. After being ranked second nationally last week the men should find themselves a spot in the eight-team national playoff. All of this is determined by a selection committee, similar to NCAA basketball, and is released Sunday night.
The Lady Dolphins will not find themselves as fortunate as their male counterparts. The women finish their season with a 12-5 record and a 9-3 conference record. Those three NE-10 loses are more than the total of two over the past three years. The last time Le Moyne lost more than three games total was in 2010, Beth Hewitt’s first year as coach. It is fair to say this season was a disappointing one for both players, fans, and coaches. There were a few bright spots by some individual breakout performances but failing to meet the team’s goal to qualify for the NCAA tournament is what matters the most.
The injury bug traveled to the heights this season and has bitten hard. For the women, their most important player junior goalie Molly Marbut suffered a foot injury that forced her to miss most of the first half of the season and left her not able to return to her elite form. Freshman Tina Humbert showed the talent that Le Moyne has on the sideline in her impressive campaign replacing Marbut. Injuries sustained to sophomore attacker Maggie Monnat and senior attacker Kathleen Conese hurt the team greatly. Credit must be given to Conese for her great career at Le Moyne and for the toughness displayed this season playing with a consistent injury.
Her ability to fight adversity is what makes her three-point performance even more impressive in the 11-10 lost to Stonehill on April 30th. After losing to Stonehill 7-6 earlier in the month it is a hard pill to swallow for a season ender. Hopefully next season with the impressive group of players returning the Dolphins will be able to finish their season on a high note. It is always better when you finish the season with a victory.
The men’s team is also a great example of how a foot injury can affect a team negatively. The injury to junior defenseman Gerald O’Brien was a big hit to the team and it showed off against Merrimack. The lack of chemistry and communication on defense was painfully obvious. The miscommunications from inexperienced players is what led to victory by Merrimack. Junior Goalie Pat Brothers was left out to dry by his teammates numerous times. Brothers was left alone with Merrimack’s attackers one too many times this past Friday afternoon, the most crucial was with 5.7 seconds left when the game-winning goal was scored. With one injury Le Moyne’s most valuable asset, their experience, was taken away.
Now the Dolphins are set to see a great playoff game between LIU Post against Le Moyne in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.The game will be hosted at Ted Grant Field this Saturday May 10th. Should Le Moyne advance, they will play the winner of the Adelphi and Dowling the following weekend. Only two wins separate Le Moyne from another trip to the national championship.
