Boys' Lacrosse Beats Loomis Chaffee 7-5

After facing a tough loss midweek against New Hampton, boys’ lacrosse hit the road on Saturday and battled to a 7-5 win against the Loomis Chaffee Pelicans behind strong play from post-graduate David White and several key stops from upper goaltender Thomas Stockham. Big Red found themselves in a hole early after a slow start, going into the second half facing a 1-4 deficit, but stepped up to complete an imperative comeback victory.Going into the New Hampton game, Exeter had just started to build some strong momentum after a sputtering 2-3 start to the season, including a scrimmage loss against Bridgton, only to have a six-game winning streak snapped at home. With the Brewster game looming midweek, the boys knew they had to show up against Loomis if they hoped to generate some confidence going into the big clash and avoid the prospect of a devastating, three-game slump in the middle of the season.The game started poorly for Big Red, however, and the weather exacerbated one of the team’s flaws that the boys have been battling all spring.“It was our first time playing on grass this season, and it had been raining the entire way to Loomis,” lower Jason Corcoran said. “The soaked field made it hard for us to win ground balls, especially since we’ve struggled with them before.”Despite their early struggles, Exeter refused to throw in the towel, bouncing back and outplaying their opponents for the final 30 minutes to turn the tables and bring home the win.“Even though we weren’t at our best, the team showed an incredible amount of determination and heart,” prep Mac Perry said. “It was animportant win heading into Brewster.”

The victory was highlighted by game-changing defensive plays as Big Red fought to protect their slim, one-goal advantage late in the game. With close to five minutes left on the clock and with Exeter serving a penalty, Perry intercepted a pass mid-air and cleared the ball down the field, kill- ing the Pelicans’ man-up advantage. Later, White checked his man, knocking his opponent’s stick out of his hands. In one sweeping motion, White scooped the ball out of the air and cleared. Very late in the game, it was goaltender Stockham’s turn to be the hero, as he stuffed a Loomis transition op- portunity, setting up an Exeter counter attack that resulted in post-graduate Peter Anastos’ goal that iced the game at 7-5.

With just four games remaining on the schedule until Big Red’s showdown against Deerfield, the team will look to build some strong momentum during their home tilt against Tabor on Saturday. Although they have a strong record, the boys are far from satisfied.“We have a very young team and a lot of potential, and we will definitely improve in the coming years, but at this point in the season, we should really be playing better than we have been,” Perry said.“We need to improve our work on ground balls and in transition,” Corcoran added. “There is a lot of talent on this team, and forgetting our record until now, we are aiming to put in the effort to finish the season 7-0 from here on out.”