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.”

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.”

Edward Meloni ’91

Can xenon gas treat post-traumatic stress disorder?

Various media outlets including Newsweek and The Boston Globe reported on research by neuroscientist Edward Meloni ’91 suggesting that xenon gas could be used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and other memory-related disorders.

Meloni and his team’s findings were first published in the article “Xenon Impairs Reconsolidation of Fear Memories in a Rat Model of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)” in the journal PLOS ONE.

Xenon gas fills a discharge tube shaped like the element鈥檚 atomic symbol. (Photograph by Pslawinski [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons)

It turns out that “every time you reactivate a memory聽鈥� that is, recall it聽鈥� it鈥檚 susceptible to modification,” explains Meloni.

reporter Douglas Main that once retrieved, “the memory can also be changed or added to, in a process called reconsolidation.” Meloni says that the gas “prevents a memory from being re-encoded, which may allow it 鈥� or its emotional significance 鈥� to begin to fade.”

He tells Newsweek that “we really think we blocked this process of reconsolidation.”

Meloni, who earned a doctorate in neuroscience at Yale in 2000, is an assistant psychologist at Harvard’s McLean Hospital and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

At McLean, he does his research in the Behavioral Genetics Lab program, headed up by Professor of Psychiatry Bill Carlezon ’86. (And, as Meloni reports with pride, he and Carlezon “were both students of John Kelsey,” professor emeritus of psychology.)

Peter Lasagna

Diversity, inclusion and lacrosse

乐播传媒’ head lacrosse coach Peter Lasagna writes a column for Inside Lacrosse, and his February piece addresses his .

While two of the best NCAA players are students of color (and are on the magazine’s cover), “featuring [Lyle] Thompson and [Myles] Jones does not mean lacrosse has achieved racial nirvana,” Lasagna writes.

Lasagna recalled what happened when, in 2012, professional player Jovan Miller, who is black, boycotted the equipment manufacturer Warrior for using the hashtag “ninjaplease,” the word “ninja” being a proxy for the N-word, according to some definitions.

“The backlash [against Miller] exposed the most ignorant intersection of lacrosse and American culture,” Lasagna writes. “Let鈥檚 be properly proud of progress made without falling prey to the disease of short historical memory. Measurable improvement does not mean we鈥檙e finished working on increased access and opportunity for all.”

Men’s lacrosse coach Peter Lasagna speaks to the team during a game in March 2014. (Sarah Crosby/乐播传媒 College)

Hilary Christensen

Truth from the tooth

Scientists have long known that they can infer an animal’s diet by looking at its teeth. For example, the heavily pitted surfaces of a squirrel’s teeth tell us that it has been chomping nuts.

But can the pattern of scratches and pits on one species’ teeth, like the squirrel’s, indicate the diet of a very different animal, even a fossil mammal with no living relatives?

The pattern of “microwear” on one species’ teeth can be used to infer the diet of another species, even an extinct animal like the cave bear, Ursus spelaeus, whose jaw is shown here. (Photograph by Didier Descouens [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons)

Her paper, “Similar Associations of Tooth Microwear and Morphology Indicate Similar Diet across Marsupial and Placental Mammals,” in the journal PLOS ONE, offers a way of “assigning a general dietary category to an animal with a truly unknown ecology.”

After comparing and contrasting the “microwear” 鈥� tiny scratches and pits聽鈥� on the teeth of various animals, Christensen developed a flow chart that can reveal the diet of almost any type of animal, whether mammal or marsupial.

Christensen鈥檚 flow chart shows how a scientist could infer an animal鈥檚 鈥渇eeding guild鈥� by knowing its body size, tooth morphology and microwear.

Let’s say that a scientist only had access to a museum specimen of an extinct species.

By knowing the general size of the specimen, and having access to at least one molar, albeit fossilized, the scientist could infer whether the animal browsed on trees and shrubs, grazed on grass, fed on fruits, ate insects or devoured meat.

“It’s a very powerful tool,” Christensen says.

聽MLK Day at 乐播传媒

A different kind of commemoration

In its coverage of the college’s MLK Day observance, the between 乐播传媒’ founding ideals, alumnus Benjamin Mays ’20, and King.

Reporter Kelley Bouchard interviewed Associate Dean of Students James Reese, a key figure in the college’s MLK Day history, who noted that Mays’ relationship with King didn’t end when King graduate from Morehouse, where Mays was president.

鈥淜ing would call on Mays for advice and to discuss approaches to protests, so [their] bond was even stronger than the mentor role he had during King鈥檚 college years,鈥� Reese said.

Meanwhile, a column by Rick Cohen in Nonprofit Quarterly as an example of the “different kind of MLK Day commemoration” that is needed today.

The 乐播传媒 MLK Day theme was “From Selma to Ferguson: 50 Years of Nonviolent Dissent.”

Cohen wrote: “In 2015, we should all be showing courage to analyze, address and attack overt, structural, institutional and implicit racism” on MLK Day and guard against “making his holiday one that doesn鈥檛 forthrightly address issues of race.”

Jason Perkins ’97 and Gary Dzen ’05

A brewmaster’s interlude

Alumni were on both sides of a came up with its Interlude beer.

Gary Dzen ’05 writes the Globe‘s 99 Bottles beer column, and he interviewed Jason Perkins ’97, Allagash brewmaster, about how a “rogue yeast” is part of the beer’s story.

Jason Perkins ’97 of Allagash Brewing Company, photographed in 2008 at the brewery’s headquarters in Portland, Maine. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College).

The yeast, a particular strain of Brettanomyces, spoiled a batch of beer some years ago. But as Dzen writes, “the uninvited yeast, once isolated, can actually make some pretty great beer.”

He writes:

“[The yeast] works slowly, giving off tropical fruit character as it chews through the beer. Some strains of Brettanomyces are known for the funky, barnyard notes they impart into a brew. In this Allagash beer those notes are present but overshadowed by passion fruit and pineapple, according to brewmaster Jason Perkins.”

Dzen’s verdict? “It鈥檚 a little sour but mostly fruity, a little funky but not enough to remind you of wet socks. This is a big beer (9.5 percent alcohol by volume), but you shouldn鈥檛 be afraid to walk up and shake its hand.”

By H. Jay Burns
Photographs by Phyllis Graber Jensen

On March 3, 2002, the death of 乐播传媒 lacrosse captain Morgan McDuffee 鈥�02 鈥� a young man, as his coach said, “who simply glowed” 鈥� plunged the many people who knew and loved him into the darkest kind of despair.

Ten years later, a rainy day that gave way to sunshine, McDuffee鈥檚 family, friends and former teammates gathered for a memorial lacrosse game between 乐播传媒, coached by Peter Lasagna, and Skidmore College, coached by McDuffee鈥檚 friend and former teammate, Jack Sandler 鈥�02.

With the passage of time, the circle of people keeping McDuffee鈥檚 spirit alive is now larger and still unbroken.

That鈥檚 what struck Sandler about the memorial game: 鈥渢he outpouring of support from so many for someone who meant so much to me but who many of them had never even met.鈥�

Played at Tufts, the non-conference game was also a fundraiser for Morgan鈥檚 Fund, administered by the Maine Community Foundation. The fund supports groups promoting anti-violence programming and mediation, including Metro Lacrosse, a Boston nonprofit whose mission is youth development and education through lacrosse competition.

Players, coaches and fans wore No. 2 decals honoring McDuffee鈥檚 uniform number at 乐播传媒.
Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College.

Before the game, McDuffee鈥檚 former teammates brought out Morgan鈥檚 lacrosse jersey, signed by both teams, and presented it to his mother.

Lasagna spoke briefly. The moment was heavy with shared emotion, but time had clearly passed, and the group seemed content to come together.

Lasagna said he was certain that McDuffee, had he lived, would have chosen a life that involved working with young people like the Metro Lacrosse youths, many of whom came to the game and were greeted by players and coaches.

乐播传媒 head coach Peter Lasagna greets young boys and girls from Metro Lacrosse, the Boston nonprofit that focuses on youth development and education through lacrosse competition and receives support from Morgan鈥檚 Fund.
Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒

As a coach not much older than his Skidmore players, Sandler has shared the story of his friend Morgan McDuffee. Not necessarily the story of McDuffee’s death 鈥� murdered near campus while trying to break up a late-night melee between 乐播传媒 students and locals 鈥� but of his competitive yet generous spirit. He was a 鈥渨hat can I do to help?鈥� type of leader and an equally loyal and big-hearted friend.

鈥淥bviously, I spend a lot of time with my players at Skidmore,鈥� Sandler says. 鈥淭hey get to know me and they鈥檝e heard me speak of Morgan before. But in the locker room before the game, when I presented them with the No. 2 stickers for their helmets, this was the first time. They understood what a tragedy this had been and how important Morgan was to not just me but all those who attended the game.

鈥淢organ reached so many people in such a short amount of time.鈥�

When the hard-fought game ended (Skidmore won), Sandler and Lasagna embraced.

McDuffee鈥檚 mother asked a photographer to take a picture of her and her sister, Morgan鈥檚 aunt, with the signed jersey, and they smiled as the photo was taken.

After the game McDuffee鈥檚 mother, Lisa Freeman (left), and her sister, Laura Birdsall, pose with McDuffee鈥檚 乐播传媒 lacrosse jersey, signed by both teams. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒

Suzi Andrew South 鈥�04, who was engaged to McDuffee at the time of his passing. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College.

Players, coaches and fans wore No. 2 decals honoring McDuffee鈥檚 uniform number at 乐播传媒. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College.

For many players, the game was their first understanding of the power of the McDuffee story. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒

Head coach Peter Lasagna and his former players Aaron Sells 鈥�01, Chris Buckley 鈥�01 and Ben Anderson 鈥�99. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒

乐播传媒 head coach Peter Lasagna greets young boys and girls from Metro Lacrosse, the Boston nonprofit that focuses on youth development and education through lacrosse competition and receives support from Morgan鈥檚 Fund. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒