Ever since the conference’s formation in 1971, off-season workouts with coaches have been a NESCAC no-no. But under that recognize the loss of games and competitions due to COVID-19, NESCAC spring sports coaches were allowed to work with their teams this fall.

For first-year 乐播传媒 Bobcats in traditional spring sports like baseball, lacrosse, and softball, being allowed to practice with their coaches and new teammates right away this fall has been a unique experience in a unique time 鈥� and a silver lining in an otherwise difficult transition to college.

Video by Aaron Morse/乐播传媒 College

“I lost my season last year, and it was hard to practice over the summer,” said men’s lacrosse player Lowell Hairston ’24 of Reisterstown, Md.

“Just being out on the field in any capacity has been honestly fantastic. Even with the modified drills with less people on the field and not being able to hit each other, it鈥檚 been so worth it.”

For head men’s lacrosse coach Peter Lasagna, being able to bound around Garcelon Field with his team “has been an exquisite joy. The reason why we know each other, the reason that we are connected, is because of our shared passion for lacrosse. For us to be able to actually experience that together in their first months of college has just been wonderful.”

They aren’t necessarily “normal” practices, with drills being modified to fit physical-distancing guidelines and, you know, everyone wearing masks. But to first-year students, none of that really matters.

Getting to know the coaches right away has been a crucial component of the fall practices for spring sports student-athletes. Hairston is already learning a lot about coach Lasagna.

“He鈥檚 honestly one of the most empathetic people,” Hairston said. “But he鈥檚 also just funny and knows when to get serious on the field too.”

Over at Leahey Field, pitcher Jack Potash ’24 of Seymour, Conn., was able to face live hitting for the first time in an entire year.

“I have been pitching pretty much since I have been playing baseball,” Potash said. “I did not get a chance to play this summer so it felt good; it鈥檚 always nice to go back on the mound.”

Learning from older peers is a big aspect of the 乐播传媒 experience as a whole. And it’s no different in the world of athletics. One thing the more experienced Bobcats have emphasized is that flexibility is the key to success.

“Being able to adapt to different situations is definitely a huge thing,” said women’s lacrosse player Madie Donovan ’24 of Cohasset, Mass. “I think our upperclassmen are awesome and have really helped with that transition, you know getting up to speed with lifting and practices and class, all at the same time.”

When it comes down to it, the strong 乐播传媒 community continues to shine through, even in difficult times.

“I just love it here,” Hairston said. “I have not had an experience like this. I have not been able to be in a community like this in…forever. So this is truly unique.”

The 乐播传媒 men’s lacrosse team is 4-1 and ranked 13th nationally entering this weekend’s game at Trinity. Last week, they defeated defending national champion Wesleyan, cementing themselves as a force to be reckoned with in 2019.

The 乐播传媒 offense has been electric but it is the Bobcat defense that is forcing the NESCAC to take notice. The Bobcats deploy two goalkeepers who receive equal playing time, a strategy not often seen in men’s lacrosse.

Watch how 乐播传媒 men’s lacrosse deploys a distinctive two-goalkeeper system 鈥� and makes it work.

“Some people think that if you have two goalies you have no goalie, and I think that we dare to be different and we believe that we have two goalies,” goalkeepers coach Andrew Deane said. “So it鈥檚 a lot of fun to see both guys compete.”

Mitchell Drake ’19 of Annapolis, Md., who plays the first half, and Rob Strain ’20 of Montclair, N.J., who plays the second half, have made it work.

The two goalkeepers bring different skill sets to the table.

“Mitch has always been faster on the hand side, just hand speed, and I think he鈥檚 better at stepping to the ball than I am, so I have been learning from him for the past years,” Strain said.

“I think I like clearing the ball more than Mitch does. I think he鈥檚 gotten a lot better over the past years, whether it鈥檚 from me or through sheer experience, but it鈥檚 been fun.鈥� 聽

The two-goalkeeper strategy could change at any time.

Both Bobcats sport career-highs in save percentage so far this season, with Drake leading the NESCAC at 61.5 percent.

The two-goalkeeper strategy could change at any time. Drake and Strain are ready.

“It just means you have to be ready for anything,” Drake said. “Ever since my first year I have always had to be ready to play, so none of that has really changed.”

Undefeated and No. 1 in the land, the continues its quest for a at noon Saturday in a semifinal game vs. Middlebury at Garcelon Field, which is .

乐播传媒 beat Middlebury a month ago on Senior Day, but the win didn’t satisfy the Bobcats. Up by eight early in the second half, 乐播传媒 saw the Panthers score seven unanswered goals in the third quarter before pulling out a 15鈥�12 win.

鈥淲e definitely had a bad taste in our mouth after the game,” says defenseman Charlie Gravina ’17 of Fair Haven, N.J. “But we found a way to win, found a way to hold them down and keep putting goals in the back of the net.鈥�

Middlebury beat 乐播传媒 twice in 2016, including a NESCAC tourney win that ended the Bobcats’ season. “We still have a chip on our shoulder from last year,鈥� says attackman Andrew Melvin ’17 of Medfield, Mass.

Head coach Peter Lasagna likes the fact that his team is still champing at the bit. “Maybe it’s a measure of our progress that simply beating Middlebury on Senior Day wasn鈥檛 enough.”

A win tomorrow puts 乐播传媒 into the title game at noon Sunday vs. the winner of tomorrow’s other semifinal matchup, between Tufts and Wesleyan, which kicks off at 3 p.m. at Garcelon.

The undefeated and No. 4 nationally ranked 乐播传媒 men’s lacrosse team visited Brunswick on Wednesday to take on No. 16 Bowdoin.

The Bobcats trailed by three goals midway through the fourth quarter, but as head coach Peter Lasagna puts it: “We’re going to keep on fighting and our best shooters are going to keep shooting until we score.”

You’ll want to watch what happens next.

With the victory, 乐播传媒 is 9-0 on the season and faces .

The Panthers beat 乐播传媒 twice in 2016 so the Bobcats are extra-motivated for Saturday’s tilt. “They ended our season last year, so that was one of the worst feelings you could possibly have,” says senior captain Kyle Weber.

Lasagna compares this week’s slate of tough games to taking final exams, coming up next week for 乐播传媒 students. “They did a very good job on their first exam,” Lasagna says. “Now we just have to get ready for Saturday’s exam.”

Chief Oren Lyons. (Larry Palumbo/Coyote Magic)

Chief Oren Lyons, a Native American leader and environmental activist, offers a lecture titled Peace, Power, Righteousness: Environmental Stewardship From a Native Perspective at 7 p.m. Monday, March 3, in the Peter J. Gomes Chapel, 275 College St.

Presented by the Office of Equity and Diversity in cooperation with other offices at 乐播传媒, the event is open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-6031.

Lyons, a member of the Onondaga and Seneca nations, is a Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan and a chief of the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee (“People of the Longhouse”).

Lyons attended Syracuse University on an athletic scholarship. A lifelong lacrosse player, he was a standout in the sport at Syracuse, was later elected to the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and today is honorary chairman of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team.

Graduating Syracuse with a degree in fine arts, Lyons became a successful commercial artist. He later taught at the University of Buffalo, and was named a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and Professor Emeritus of American Indian Studies.

In 1977, Lyons was a founding member of the Traditional Circle of Elders and Youth, a council that seeks to infuse Native American culture into contemporary cultural and political discourse.

In 1982, he helped establish the Working Group on Indigenous Populations at the United Nations. He is the recipient of the United Nations NGO World Peace Prize.

He serves on the Executive Committee of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival. Among many other honors, he is a recipient of Sweden’s prestigious Friends of the Children Award, along with his colleague, the late Nelson Mandela.

Lyons was the subject of Oren Lyons the Faithkeeper, a 1991 PBS documentary by Bill Moyers, and appeared in the 2007 documentary聽The 11th Hour, a documentary on the state of the natural world and climate change, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

He is the author, co-author or editor of several books and has illustrated a number of children’s books.

Here’s a list of the 乐播传媒 and related offices and programs making Lyons’ visit possible:

The departments of history and athletics; the environmental studies program; the Harward Center for Community Partnerships; the offices of Intercultural Education and of Sustainability; the Learning Associates Program; the Multifaith Chaplaincy; and the 乐播传媒 Group of the Wabanaki-乐播传媒-Bowdoin-Colby Collaborative.

David Barrett ’10 of men’s lacrosse rejoices after scoring on a on a teammate’s assist with 52 seconds left in the third quarter against Trinity College.

乐播传媒 senior attackman Tyler Moore (North Andover, Mass.) played a key role in the Bobcats men’s lacrosse team gaining its first win of the season last Wednesday against Gordon College.

With the Bobcats facing an 8-6 deficit to start the fourth quarter against the Fighting Scots, Moore scored three goals in the final period as 乐播传媒 finished the game with a 7-0 run to win 13-8.