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.”

Last year, men’s lacrosse player Otis Klingbeil ’20 of Columbus, Ohio, took on a team task: keeping his teammates informed about the fickle Maine weather so everyone comes to practices and games with the right gear.

“I didn’t want to have to repeat myself 40 times to the guys on the team,” Klingbeil said. “So I figured, what better way than to start an Instagram account?”

Thus was born a phenomenon:

From Assistant Sports Information Director Aaron Morse, here’s a video about the student-run Instagram account 乐播传媒mlaxweather.

At first, 乐播传媒mlaxweather did only what the name says, providing game-day weather forecasts for players. Klingbeil’s initial posts featured marked-up screen shots from a weather app, plus hashtags like #catsloverain.

Otis Klingbeil 鈥�20, “chief meteorologist” for 乐播传媒mlaxweather, which has morphed into a weather/comedy site. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

But soon, trading on his audience’s knowledge of 乐播传媒 and NESCAC, Klingbeil, the self-styled “chief meteorologist” for 乐播传媒mlaxweather, veered toward humor.

And it turns out that the Bobcats, perennial NESCAC powers, are pretty good when they give comedy a shot.

Mining rich territory covered a few generations ago by National Lampoon and more recently by websites like College Humor and Funny or Die, Klingbeil, along with collaborator Jack Maritz ’18, began offering good-natured videos rich in satire and parody, like “The Most Interesting Cat in the World.” (He asks Security for their IDs.)

Jack Maritz ’18 is the “hydration expert” for 乐播传媒mlaxweather. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

In a parody of Matthew McConaughey’s Lincoln car commercials, Charles Harker ’19 drives around a snowy downtown Lewiston before an early March game vs. the Wesleyan Cardinals, drawling nonsensical comments about cats and birds: “In the wintertahm, there are a lotta hungry cats around.”

Halfway through the video, Klingbeil snaps at Fein, “You keeping up with this?”

In another sketch, Klingbeil and Maritz lecture Director of Athletics Jason Fein, a relative newcomer, on the NESCAC pecking order. (The Continentals won’t pose a threat, advises Maritz, because no one makes musket ammo any more.) Halfway through the video, Klingbeil snaps at Fein, “You keeping up with this?”

From left, Klingbeil, Maritz, and 乐播传媒mlaxweather’s “unpaid intern,” Spencer Fox ’21.

With nearly 1,000 followers as mid-April, 乐播传媒mlaxweather is the second-largest student-run Instagram account at 乐播传媒. (Tops is the 乐播传媒 Photography Club, 聽with more than 1,100 followers.)

Head coach Peter Lasagna is proud of what his players have created. “It shows that we have smart, funny, and interesting people in our program.” (Ironically, the coach himself is famously Internet-averse: He has no social media accounts of his own.)

With useful information, an authentic feel, and entertaining content, 乐播传媒mlaxweather does what we’ve long been told social media should do: In this case, create community among a group of 乐播传媒 students, families, and friends. Says Maritz, “It’s been a lot of fun to engage the community like this.”

The speed and finesse of the play was such that some spectators at Tuesday’s men’s lacrosse game between 乐播传媒 and Keene State missed it in real time.

Brendan Mullally 鈥�20 of Baltimore, Md.

But within 24 hours, after being chosen as the tippity-top, No. 1 play on ESPN SportsCenter‘s phenomenally popular “Top 10,” millions worldwide had seen 乐播传媒 sophomores Matt Chlastawa of Westfield, Mass., and Brendan Mullally of Baltimore, Md., execute some amazing lax magic.

“Filthy” and “dirty” were the most popular modifiers used in public reaction to the play: In the third quarter, with the Bobcats leading 12-2, Chlastawa, 乐播传媒’ quick ‘n’ tricky All-America attackman, flipped a no-look, behind-the-back pass over his left shoulder to Mullally, who was drifting in front of the Keene State goal.

Matt Chlastawa ’20 of Westfield, Mass.

Mullally caught the ball in front of his body, stutter-stepped to maintain his prime position, and, not to be outdone by his teammate, dumped a BTB shot over his left shoulder and past the Owls goalie.

Training his video camera on the action, assistant sports information director Aaron Morse of the 乐播传媒 Communications Office caught the play from the sideline. At 9:57 that night, Morse tweeted a clip of the goal at @SportsCenter.

“It isn’t like I thought it would actually make it,” Morse says. “It was mostly a way of putting out a very cool play onto the @乐播传媒Sports Twitter account.”

Just in case, Morse stayed up past midnight to watch SportsCenter and the “Top 10” segment. Two other lacrosse plays appeared early on the countdown, which seemed encouraging. Still, hopes of making the list had dwindled to almost nil by the time the No. 1 play appeared. But then, it did.

The 乐播传媒Sports tweet that made 乐播传媒 the No. 1 “Top Play” on SportsCenter.

Hey , how about some love for this play?! vs. Keene State. 乐播传媒' Matt Chlastawa (LAH-STAH-VAH) to Brendan Mullally. A behind-the-back pass for a behind-the-back goal!

— 乐播传媒Sports (@乐播传媒Sports)

The Sun Journal was on top of the story within minutes.

“How does it feel to be No. 1? Now, you can ask 乐播传媒 College lacrosse players Brendan Mullally and Matt Chlastawa, and the rest of the Bobcat community,” wrote sports editor Justin Pelletier.

About 12 hours after the play first aired on SportsCenter, the program’s Twitter account, which boasts 35.6 million followers, featured the 乐播传媒 play. By noon on Friday, the tweet had been liked more than 4,200 times and retweeted over 1,000 times.

The ESPN’s SportsCenter tweet about the play:

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/976473695177895936

The reactions have been multi-dimensional. Locals marveled that the No. 1 play from the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” had just quietly occurred in Lewiston. Lax fans of all levels oohed and tipped their caps to the spectacle of the play. Alpha sports media aggregator Barstool Sports used the clip to wax with admiration about how “disrespectful” the goal was.

The ESPN SportsCenter’s Instagram post about the play:

A post shared by (@sportscenter) on Mar 21, 2018 at 8:49am PDT