Yesterday the Lords lacrosse team defeated Oberlin College 15-8 at home. The Lords finished 5-9 overall and 2-4 in the NCAC.

The Lords started strong against Oberlin by gaining a four goal lead in the first quarter, but the Yeomen pulled themselves back into the competition by scoring five goals before the second quarter. The Lords quickly responded in the second quarter by scoring three goals and holding the Yeomen scoreless, making the halftime score 7-5 in the Lords’ favor. In the second half, the Lords scored eight goals and conceded three goals.

Against Oberlin, sophomore Sean Wheeler scored five goals and made two assists. Junior Adam Kleinman scored four goals and made one assist. First-year Nate Pritchard scored two goals. Junior Sean O’Neill scored one goal and made five assists. Sophomore Luke Larson scored one goal and made one assist. Junior Brad Harvey scored one goal. Sophomore Adam Lucas scored one goal. First-years Noah Flessel and Luke Hammond each made one assist. First-year goalkeeper Charlie Floeckher made ten saves. Floeckher has played the last four games in place of senior Dave Neiman, who developed an ankle injury.

On Saturday, April 30, over two hundred fans showed up at McBride Field to see the Kenyon Lords take on the Denison University Big Red. The Lords immediately drew blood from the Big Red by scoring two goals and maintaining possession of the ball through the middle of the second quarter. However, the Big Red managed to get back into the game by scoring seven consecutive goals between the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter.

“Denison [went] on a big run,” said Larson. “But we didn’t give up and [we] kept playing hard.”

With eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, Denison was ahead 7-2, but that was not enough to hold back O’Neill who was the first to score in the Lords’ four-goal scoring rampage in the final eight minutes. In the end, Denison snuck away with an 8-6 victory.

“By the time we got [back] into our groove in the fourth quarter it was too late,” said junior Brad Harvey.

Against Denison, O’Neill scored two goals and had one assist. Wheeler scored one goal and had two assists. Prichard scored one goal. Harvey and Larson each scored one goal. Senior Geoff Legg and Flessel each had one assist. Floeckher made thirteen saves in goal. This season, the Lords’ roster had fourteen first-years, seven sophomores and seven juniors. Neiman, Deal and Geoff Legg are the team’s graduating seniors. They played significant roles during their Kenyon lacrosse careers, and they were well respected by their teammates and coaches.

“We graduate three seniors who have been pivotal players and captains on this team this year,” said head coach Brian McWilliams. “Our incoming class will help us in terms of depth, which has been the factor all season. The returning players have to take ownership of building a more competitive program here at Kenyon.”

“The three seniors are strong leaders and will leave behind a respectable career at Kenyon,” said O’Neil.

The Lords will return next season with more experience and a strong recruiting class, which will aid Head Coach Brian McWilliams in rebuilding the Kenyon tradition of successful lacrosse. “Pete Smith, the Kenyon Athletic Director, has been very supportive of the potential of the lacrosse program here, and the student support at games has been great as well,” said McWilliams. “We will be adding fairly significant numbers to the team next year with the incoming recruiting class. Coach Bill Heiser built a great tradition with the program here; I hope we can build on that tradition.”