After our loss to Southern Connecticut, I spent the rest of the weekend pondering where our team was at, as our Conference Schedule was about to commence. We had been gaining experience and improving, and I really felt we had begun to turn a corner. So I focused my attention on what would certainly be our toughest opponent, thus far, in the Mercy Mavericks. While we had beaten Mercy three of the past four times, we have met them, including last season’s ECC Championship Game, they are the perennial favorites to win our Conference, and this season are off to a very good start.

As I began watching film in preparation for Mercy, I learned that our task was going to be even more difficult than anticipated. The Lady Lions would now be dealing with an “Internal Matter” (the details of which, I will not get into, here), which would further deplete our already injury riddled roster, for the next three contests.

Still, as we took the field Wednesday afternoon, I was hopeful that we could continue our upward trajectory and compete well. Mercy jumped out to a quick 3 – 0 advantage, but when we scored with eight and a half minutes remaining in the opening quarter, I recalled our previous comebacks against Mercy, and thought “okay, maybe we can get going now”. But in the final six minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks reeled off seven more goals, for a 10 – 1 lead! While, our team never stopped playing hard, we were unable to gain any momentum, as Mercy got their revenge, with a thorough 18 – 6 home win. I just seemed that not enough of us, were able to match Mercy’s pace and tenacity.

Absorbing a loss like that is not easy, but there was no time to dwell on it, because in three days time we would be hosting the Daemen Wildcats, who would be coming into the game with a 6 – 3 record. We beat them 17 – 1 last season, but they were very young and athletic, and all signs suggest that they would be much improved.

Saturday was a beautiful day for lacrosse and, as we got underway, I was hoping we could get back on track by playing well and winning this game. But, the visitors scored twice in the first two and a half minutes, giving me cause for concern. It wasn’t until the final 39 seconds of the first quarter, when the Lions finally got on the board. In the opening minutes of the second quarter, Molloy took a 3 – 2 lead! But instead of being able to go on a sustained run, the game settled into a back and forth dogfight. Daemen regained the lead at 4 – 3 and then again at 5 – 4. The Lions clawed back and led 6 – 5 before the Wildcats tied it at 6, just before the end of the half.

The see saw battle, continued in the third quarter, with neither team able to create any breathing room. Heading into the final quarter, I liked that we held a 9 – 8 edge, but was concerned about how much gas we had left in the tank. Daemen regained the lead at 10 – 9, before we pulled even at 10, half way through the fourth quarter. At that point Daeman took the first two goal advantage, since it was 2 – 0, back in the first few minutes of the game. The Lady Lions had numerous opportunities in the final few minutes, but were unable to find the back of the net, as the Wildcats gained their first ever decision over Molloy and a big Conference win, 12 – 10.

While we had gotten off to another slow start, this time we were able to rebound. We competed very hard all day, and definitely had a chance to come out on top. This was our first really close game and I think it was our best overall game (against a quality opponent, at least). It is tough to lose a game, when you believe you could (and should) have won. But at least we were able to right the ship, so to speak.

As I sat down to write this post, I realized I did not take any photos, this week. I guess I was so preoccupied with our situation, I never thought to snap a few photos. I apologize for that.

We half no weekday game this week, which will give us a nice little respite, before we travel to the nation’s capital on Saturday, to take on the UDC Firebirds.

Go Lions!