SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Western New England University outscored the Bates men's lacrosse team 9-1 in the second quarter, and the host Golden Bears' 11-3 halftime lead was too much to overcome for the visiting Bobcats on Tuesday night, as they fell 14-11.
Bates outscored WNE 4-1 in the third quarter and finally edged all the way into the game, cutting the Golden Bears' lead to 13-11 with 1:19 remaining. WNE won the next faceoff and Conor Tracy scored on an empty net with 38 seconds left to provide the final margin.
Tracy led WNE (4-1) with five goals, including three during their 7-0 run over a nine-minute stretch of the second quarter.
Senior Otis Klingbeil (Powell, Ohio) led Bates (1-5) with five goals, tying his career high. Tallying one goal and one assist apiece for the Bobcats were sophmore Jack Golden (Northport, N.Y.), senior Brendan Mullally (Baltimore, Md.) and senior Curtis Knapton (Falmouth, Maine). First-year Will Schinabeck (Shaker Heights, Ohio), sophomore Max Kim (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and sophomore Jack Lousararian (Mansfield, Mass.) all scored as well, and senior Matt Chlastawa (Westfield, Mass.) passed out a pair of assists.
Senior goalie Rob Strain (Montclair, N.J.) made 15 saves, while his WNE counterpart Sean McCusker stopped 13 shots. Senior defender Frank Spitz (Gladwyne, Pa.) caused three turnovers and collected five ground balls. First-year Alex Neville (Manchester, N.H.) had five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
WNE got the better of Bates on faceoffs, winning 18 of 28, and winning ground balls 47-31.
Winning only 2 of 11 faceoffs in the second quarter helped precipitate the destruction it caused Bates. Winning 4-5 faceoffs in the third quarter helped the Bobcats gain their footing. Kim began the chipping away with an unassisted tally at the 12:01 mark. Klingbeil tallied, and after Matt Greer scored for the Golden Bears, Bates closed the gap to 12-7 before the end of the quarter, as Chlastawa fed Mullally and Klingbeil within two minutes of each other.
Greer's score with 9:10 remaining ended a Bates 3-0 run that was capped by Knapton's goal in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Then Bates survived losing the ensuing faceoff, drawing a 30-second penalty and turning the ball over three times over the next three minutes, Bates managed to cut back into the lead as a save by Strain, a quick outlet and Klingbeil finishing with the extra pass from Mullally made it 13-9. Bates junior Chris Costello (Ridgewood, N.J.) won the next faceoff, and soon after Lousararian closed the gap to three goals with 5:16 remaining, on an assist from junior Steven Canale (North Andover, Mass.).
The Bobcats won the next faceoff but turned the ball over twice without getting a shot off. When a one-minute penalty was called against WNE with 1:48 to go, Bates took advantage as Knapton fed Klingbeil for a man-up goal with 79 seconds left in the game. The score may have made the home fans squirm, but WNE endured the final minute unscathed.
The next game on Bates' schedule is Saturday at Amherst, but Amherst earlier in the day announced the suspension of all of its spring athletic teams, effective Wednesday. The same is true for Bates' following scheduled opponent, Middlebury, on March 21. Bates is slated to host Williams on March 28.
