BY KAZI HASSAN ’15
Staff Writer

After losing back-to-back games against Haverford and Gettysburg Colleges, F&M’s men’s lacrosse team picked up a crucial win against Dickinson College Saturday. In both their previous losses, however, the Diplomats were in a close position to win. In the first game against Haverford, the Diplomats lost 9-8, and in the second game played this past Wednesday, the Dips fell to Gettysburg 7-5. However, the Dips’ losing streak came to a halt on Saturday.

The Dips’ record is outstanding so far, indicating they have been working hard from last season and changing their tactics in order to pick up some more wins. The overall record for the Dips this season is 9-5, and they stand at a solid 4-4 in a tough Centennial Conference. After watching the team play and interviewing Todd Cavallaro, head coach, I think they have successfully created their own identity within the team. The conclusion is that this team is a family now, and it is now ready to compete at the next level, and will hopefully make a run for the Centennial Conference Championship title.

This past Wednesday, the Dips only lost by two goals to Gettysburg. The Dips were doomed by a weak second half of the game, in which the Bullets held them to just one goal. Throughout most of the second half, the Dips held a 2-1 advantage. Tim Gaines ’13 and A.J. Reichert ’13 both scored during the first half of play.

As the second half got started, the Bullets came back with two straight goals and took the lead. However, the Dips collapsed in the third quarter when the Bullets retook a 7-4 lead. Before the third quarter came to an end, Colin McKew ’14 found Billy Kempner ’14 for the only Dips goal during the quarter. In a number of instances, opportunities were knocking on the doors of the Dips in the fourth quarter. However, the day did not belong to the Dips because J.T. McCook for the Bullets had four saves in the remaining four minutes of play.

When all results were in for the Dips, it did not look good because during faceoffs the Bullets dominated them, taking 10 out of 16. From the beginning of the first quarter to the end of the last quarter, Dickinson and the Dips were going back and forth scoring goals.

During the second quarter, the Dips had four goals, yet Dickinson bounced back in the third quarter with four goals. The fourth quarter was a shooting match for both the Dips and Dickinson, each team scoring numerous goals.

The hero of the game was Reichert, who scored the final goal to lead the Dips to a Saturday evening victory. The Dips are headed to Scranton this Wednesday for their final game, and will be ready for a fight at 7 p.m.

Questions? Email Kazi at kazi.hassan@fandm.edu.

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By TCR