Men's Lacrosse Falls in Fifth Overtime Period
April 9, 2005

David Pritchard '06

LEWISTON, Maine – The Bates College men’s lacrosse team lost its first game of the season Saturday, falling to Connecticut College, 8-7, in the fifth overtime period. Bates fell to 8-1 overall and a 4-1 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, while the Camels improved to 4-6 and 3-2 in NESCAC.

Dave Schwartz ’05 (East Dix Hills, N.Y.) ended the game with 2:51 left in the fifth overtime period, scoring on an offensive set following a Conn. College timeout. From the top of the box, Schwartz drove to the left post and beat goalie Paul Kazarian ’06 (Providence, R.I.) with a low shot just inside the post. Kazarian finished the afternoon with 16 saves.

The Bobcats were led by multi-point performances from Justin Simon ’08 (Canaan, N.H.) and David Pritchard ’06 (Narbeth, Pa.). Simon scored two goals while Pritchard tallied a goal and an assist.

Russ Chase ’07 (Hingham, Mass.) and Schwartz both scored two goals for Connecticut College, while Brendan Rampi had a goal and an assist.

Bates outshot Connecticut College 46-29 and picked up 36 groundballs to the Camels’ 29. The face-off battle was near even, with the Bobcats winning 11 of 21.

Bates started out strong, scoring less than 10 seconds into the game. Gabe Belsky ’06 (Avon, Conn.) won the opening face-off and took it all the way to the cage, scoring on Camels’ goalie Topher Grossman ’05 (Villanova, Pa.). Grossman finished with 19 saves, including seven in overtime.

Bates led 3-2 heading into the second quarter and extended its lead to 5-2 on goals by Simon and Pritchard despite fighting off a 3-minute un-releasable penalty for an illegal stick.

Robbie Logan ’07 (Salem, Mass.) scored late in the half, pulling the Camels within two, 5-3.

The Bobcats opened the scoring in the second half on Matt Erisman’s ’07 (Nantucket, Mass.) unassisted goal.  The Camels, however, responded with a three-goal run, tying the game with three minutes left in regulation.

With 1:23 on the clock, Simon lifted the Bobcats to a 7-6 lead, but Schwartz sent the game into overtime, scoring with 31 seconds left in regulation.