The Amherst men’s lacrosse team finished the week with two wins and a loss in NESCAC play. In a game that was key to the conference standings, the Mammoths fell by a score of 17-13 to Wesleyan last Wednesday, April 5.

Despite a stellar individual effort from Chris Albanese ’17, who recorded five goals, the Cardinals’ offense proved to be too much. On the other end, Wesleyan’s Tom Dupont recorded seven goals in one quarter of play, carrying his team to victory.
The 11th-ranked purple and white opened up the scoring on a man-up goal from Albanese, courtesy of an assist from Trenton Shore ’19. Wesleyan fought back with three straight goals, but Amherst’s sophomore duo of Andrew Ford and Brogan Mahon tied the game at 3-3 before the close of the first quarter.

The next fifteen minutes saw the same back and forth action from both teams, with a goal from Matt Killian ’17 and two more tallies from Albanese keeping the game deadlocked at 6-6 heading into the half.

Unfortunately for Amherst, Dupont kicked off a four-goal run in the third that the home team was ultimately unable to erase. Additional goals by Shore, Colin Minicus ’20 and Zach Schwartz ’18 kept Amherst within four goals until the final whistle.

Three days after the heartbreaking loss, the Mammoths picked up a gritty 9-5 win against Colby in a defensive battle. Minicus and Mahon recorded the first unassisted efforts of the game, followed by two from Max Keeley ’18 in the second quarter to knot the two teams at four goals apiece going into the half.

Amherst, however, pulled away in the third, going on a four-goal run courtesy of tallies from Killian, Albanese and Shore, outscoring the Mules 4-1 in the third. The Mammoths maintained the strong defensive showing in the fourth, keeping the Mules scoreless, while one more goal from Keeley was the final nail in Colby’s coffin.

Tuesday, April 11 saw another close NESCAC matchup between the purple and white and Connecticut Colllege. After going down 5-2 in the first quarter, Amherst exploded for eight goals in the second stanza. The Camels’ four goals in the final quarter, however, were enough to send the game into overtime. The first extra period went scoreless after several close shots by the Mammoths, but an Albanese goal one minute into double overtime on an assist from Shore secured the win for Amherst.

The purple and white will take the field again this Saturday in one of their most important matchups of the season. The Mammoths will face No. 3 Tufts on their home field at 1 p.m.