Lancaster 3-10 Manchester Met.
Lancaster Men’s Lacrosse first team had a shaky start to the season against Manchester Metropolitan University (Cheshire).
Due to the late starting term, the Lancaster team, which is comprised almost entirely of new players, had only a week’s worth of pre-season training which would go some way to account for their 3-10 defeat at the hands of the more experienced MMU team.
Despite a few shots at the goal early on in the first quarter, Lancaster were unable to retain possession which was held by MMU for the majority of the match. The visitors quickly established their dominance, scoring three times in the first quarter of play.
Lancaster’s early offensive attempts were often clumsy and could not overpower the strong MMU defence. Manchester Met continued to assert themselves in the second quarter, closely missing the goal in the first minute and scoring not long after.
An illegal body check on Lancaster’s Warren Matlak caused a lengthy break in play and although the Lancaster defence did show signs of improvement when the match resumed, MMU’s aggressive style proved successful once again as they put home their fifth goal just before the half time whistle.
There was no let up from the Manchester Met attack as they scored again easily in the first minute of the third quarter, taking a six goal lead over the Lancaster team.
After conceding two further goals, Lancaster finally picked up the pace when Chris Schultz scored in the 53rd minute. Schultz then went on to claim a hat-trick, scoring twice in the fourth and final quarter but this wasn’t enough to put a dent in MMU’s lead as they too scored twice in the last twenty minutes of play.
In spite of the fact that the opposition spent most of the match with a man in the penalty box, Lancaster were ultimately unable to contend with the undoubtedly stronger Manchester team who could not be matched for pace or ball control. The referee did seem to take serious issue with MMU’s style of play in the latter stages of the match, sending players to the penalty box for what appeared to be superficial offences.
Lancaster Captain Jack Higgins said he was “pleased with [the team’s] performance” and that today’s match highlighted
“where we need to improve.” He went on to say that “Manchester Met were a very humble team who fully deserved the win.”
Final Score: Lancaster University
3 – 10 Manchester Metropolitan University (Chesire)
MMU: Petrykowski 9, 67 Latimer 14, 41, 72 McDermott 17 Clayton 22, 49 Ledger 38, 53
Lancaster: Schultz 53, 63, 70
