The Hamilton College men’s lacrosse team edged visiting Trinity College 9-8 in a NESCAC game at Steuben Field on Saturday afternoon. The Continentals were playing their first home game in 28 days.
Box score
John Zimmerman ’15 recorded four points – going over the 100-point mark for his career – including the game-winning goal with 5:16 left in the fourth quarter. Eric Zurmuehle ’18 won 12 of 16 face-offs, helping the Continentals go 15 of 21 at the X, their best mark since winning 13 of 17 in a win over Vassar College on April 9, 2011.
Zimmerman’s game winner came 43 seconds after Trinity (4-7, 2-5 NESCAC) tied the score for the fifth time. The Bantams won the ensuing faceoff but after their shot was saved by Hamilton’s Will Driscoll ’15, they were whistled for their fifth penalty. Zimmerman capitalized on the man-up opportunity, taking a pass from Connor Morgan ’15 and scoring his second goal of the game and his 18th of the year.
Zurmuehle won the faceoff, picking up his 10th ground ball, and Hamilton (7-4, 3-4) ran nearly two and a half minutes off the clock before Trinity’s Robert Steifler ’15 forced a turnover in his own end. Driscoll (12 saves) stopped Ryan DeSimone ’16 with just under two minutes left and the Continentals ran out the clock.
DeSimone led Trinity with two goals -- the Bantams’ first two that forged a 2-2 tie 32 seconds into the second period. He assisted on the team’s final goal, sending a high feed from behind the Continental net to James O’Connell ’15, who one-timed the ball past Driscoll.
Hamilton’s dominance at the X, which also included four wins in six tries for Trip Connors ’17, led to three goals directly off faceoff wins. Pat Donahoe ’16 scored off a Connors win 44 seconds after Zimmerman fed Sam Sweet ’16 for the game’s first goal.
After Stefan Pappas '17 scored midway through the opening quarter to give the Bantams their only lead, Zurmuehle won the faceoff and fed Sweet, who assisted on Zimmerman’s goal that tied the score at 3-3. Another Zurmuehle win in the third quarter led directly to Zimmerman setting up J.D. Brachman ’17 for a goal that put Hamilton up 7-5.
Pax Anthos ’15 scored a pair of goals for Hamilton and Sweet finished with two points as well. The Continentals outshot Trinity 48-38 in recording their third straight win in the series. Zimmerman, Dylan Lahey ’15 and Matt Greene ’18 all picked up three ground balls.
The Bantams, who had won two straight conference games in overtime, held Hamilton scoreless for a span of 15:31 over the first two quarters before Zimmerman’s first goal erased their only lead. The Continentals went ahead 1:34 later on a goal by Dan Cahill ‘17 before Trinity finally pulled even at 7-7 after goals by Matthew Hauck ’15 and Seth Bird ‘16. Hauck, who led Trinity with four ground balls, and Pappas had two goals apiece. Mickey Zaverucha ’15 stopped 11 shots.
The Continentals host nationally ranked No. 9 Williams College on Tuesday, April 7, at 4:30 p.m. Trinity continues its four-game road swing with a Tuesday game at Wesleyan University.
