Colorado College men’s lacrosse team kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive with a 9-7 victory over long-time West Region rival Whittier College on Saturday afternoon at CC’s Washburn Field.
The Tigers improved to 9-5, their most victories since the 1998 team went 11-4, and extended their winning streak to four games, the program’s longest since 2001.
The game marked the final home appearance for five members of the men’s lacrosse program – midfielder Hunter Combs (Denver, Colo.); midfielder Tom Dugan (Columbus, Ohio); defender Charlie Kenyon (Medina, Wash.), assistant coach Shawn Maloney (Walpole, Mass.), and defender Charlie Stewart (Annapolis, Md.).
Maloney, who has missed the entire season with a knee injury, made a brief appearance to start the game, but it was Combs who had the biggest impact on the game.
Combs had a hand in eight of CC’s nine goals, scoring a season-high six and adding a pair of assists to finish with a career-best eight points.
The Poets appeared to have taken a 1-0 lead 27 seconds into the game when Chuck Wagner scored, but the goal was waved off and Wagner was assessed a three-minute penalty for using an illegal stick.
Combs put the Tigers on the board seven seconds after the penalty was called with an unassisted goal, then scored a second man-up 2:04 into the game off an assist from Tom Dugan. But after Combs increased CC's advantage to 3-0 with 10:16 remaining in the first period, the teams were virtually even the remainder of the game.
Sophomore attacker Christian Wright and Wagner scored for the Poets late in the first period to cut their deficit to 3-2 and Whittier never trailed more than two goals until sophomore attackers Toby Cohen and Brendan Gangl gave CC a 9-6 lead with 7:15 left in the game.
Freshman Brendan Haas started in goal for the Tigers and made three saves during the opening 30 minutes. Scott MacArthur played the second half and also stopped three shots.
Junior Ben Brown had eight saves for the Poets, who slipped to 3-8.
The game was a statistical draw, with both teams winning 10 faceoffs and finishing with 14 ground balls. CC had a 33-21 advantage in total shots, while Whittier had 22 turnovers, compared to 16 for the Tigers.
Colorado College converted on three of eight man-up opportunities, while the Poets were 1-for-8.
Colorado College will learn its post-season fate when the brackets for the 2008 NCAA Divisions II and III Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Championships selections are announced on Sunday between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. MT exclusively on CBS College Sports Network during the NCAA Lacrosse Championship Selection Special.