By Tim Marcin
Elm Staff Writer
The men’s lacrosse team started the season off in exciting fashion this past weekend. The Shoremen bested Goucher College 7-6 in a thrilling overtime victory. The game-winner came from senior captain and midfielder Doug Herdegen 1:25 into overtime.
Washington College had to overcome some adversity along the way, clawing their way back from a three-goal deficit in the second half, while being away from home. At half time, Goucher was up 3-2, after the two schools had been trading goals. Scoring for the Shoremen in the first half were freshman Jim Cusick and sophomore Bennet Cord, both coming in the first quarter.
In the second half, WC evened the score on another Cusick goal. Goucher rallied in response with three unanswered goals, to open up a 6-3 lead. It was a tough road to get back into the game, but the Shoremen managed to pull it off. Coach Jeff Shirk said it best, “the guys never stopped working and in the end we came out on top not because of how well we played but because of how hard we played.” Pat Coyle really helped the cause when he cut the lead to 6-5, and then Cord struck again knotting it up at 6-6 with 9:59 remaining in regulation (Cord’s game-high third goal). The Shoremen fired off four shots in the final 1:37 of the fourth quarter, but the game was fated for overtime.
The winning goal Herdegen scored came off of a pass from midfielder senior Shane Kaski, who picked a loose ball out of the air. It capped off a fantastic come back, and put the heart of the team on display.
The exciting win was certainly a positive start to a long season, Coach Shirk saying, “[The game] was huge for this team in building our confidence.” Opening the season with a win is always big, especially against a team that won their conference the previous year. Coach Shirk is keeping it all in perspective, however, saying, ”This game taught our guys how to come from behind, how to win, and how important it is to play hard and stick together.” Hopefully the squad will take these lessons and apply them throughout the year, starting with their home opener this Saturday against Washington and Lee (12 p.m. start time).
March 4, 2011
Volume LXXXI Issue 17