The Amherst men’s lacrosse team went 2-1 over spring break, taking down Bowdoin and No. 2 Denison University before falling short to Rochester Institute of Technology, the top-ranked team in the nation and beating Endicott Colllege 13-4

Sophomore Colin Minicus continued his early season dominance on the first Saturday of break in the blustery away contest against the Polar Bears. He netted six goals against Bowdoin goalie John Young, leading all scorers and helping the Mammoths maintain consistent scoring in an incredibly back-and-forth game. Jon Coffey ’20 also tallied three goals for Amherst and dished an assist to Wolf in the first quarter.

After three relatively evenly matched quarters, Jordan Sanford ’18, Minicus and Jimmy McAfee ’20 all found the back of the net in response to Bowdoin scores to tie up the contest at 15-15 with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation.

Sophomore Matt Solberg then found the net two minutes later, a tally that proved to be the game-winner, as the Mammoths were able to hold the 16-15 edge until the clock ran out. With the win, Amherst moved to a record of 2-0 in conference play.

Amherst spent the back half of spring break in Owing Mills, Maryland with the top two teams in the nation, Denison and RIT, on the schedule.

Holding the Big Red to just 13 goals onFriday evening at Mustang Stadium. , the Mammoths never trailed in the contest and exploded for six markers in the fourth period as then-No. 10 Amherst upset, 19-13.

The next day, though, the Tigers had a 10-2 lead after the first quarter, a lead from which the Mammoths were unable to come back from despite a tremendous effort over the next three quarters. Junior Jackson Herrick led Mammoth scoring with four markers, and sophomore Dylan Finazzo scooped up 12 ground balls to give Amherst an advantage over RIT in 50-50 hustle plays. However, a 6-3 fourth quarter in favor of RIT allowed the favorites to leave the field with a 21-16 win.

With the loss, Amherst moved to 4-1 overall on the season, while RIT improved to 6-0. However, the win over Denison and tight loss to the Tigers bode well for the Mammoths’ hopes for the season, as Amherst currently sits at No. 6 in the nation.

Building on this momentum, the Mammoths then faced Endicott College on Tuesday. The Mammoths jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, with Coffey tallying a first quarter hat trick. After this, the Mammoths settled into a groove, controlling the pace of play, eventually winning 13-4.

The Mammoths will next face off against Hamilton College at home on Saturday, March 24, at 1:00 p.m.