I was a little nervous when I woke up to a fresh inch of snow on the field Saturday, but the grounds crew got out the plow and brush and we had our game at home under sunny, beautiful skies! Thank goodness (and our lacrosse families who generously donated the money!) for the turf field.

We had the distinct advantage of turf practices (albeit limited this year by extreme cold), so we used that advantage to ride like crazy. Our riding resulted in lots of Colby turnovers and a frenetic pace which helped in terms of giving us possessions and tiring them since we had more depth. We did not execute very well in transition or shoot particularly well, so the pace did not help the score. The other part of the game in which we lacked execution was Extra Man Offense (1/10.) We had a bunch of EMO opportunities and came up empty as we shot poorly, threw the ball away and generally looked anemic. On offense we did not have any problems with their zone, but again did not shoot or execute too well. The silver lining was that we did generate offense and show signs of being able to score goals. Experience should help a lot.

We looked great on defense, the close defense of Caleb Holmes, John West and Ed Brown shut down the attack and the Long Stick Middies, Tom O'Connor and Will Rawson played well also. O'Connor received the game ball for tenacious on-ball play and a big hit! Freshman Gabe Wood was also a major contributor, he and Rawson are both playing close and long stick middie. Gabe is big, athletic and poised and is making an impact early. Krieger is playing well in the cage, he only sees point blank shots, so he doesn't put up huge numbers (9 saves vs. Colby), but he makes big saves, outlets great and is a leader for us on defense. Finally, Brian McGregor dominated on face offs, further adding to the possession advantage we grabbed with our riding game.

Springfield is up Wednesday, they are talented, just beat Hartwick 15-14, so a nice challenge that we are ready to handle.

Erin