Cincinnati Suffers First Loss
On Sunday the Bearcats travelled to Denison University for a double-header against Denison and Ohio State. These games figured to be the first that would really test the Bearcats, and they certainly lived up to those expectations. Cincinnati was able to pull off a come from behind 9-7 victory over Denison University, but lost their second of back to back games 12-8 to Ohio State University.
In the first game against The Big Red, Cincinnati was unable to get things going in the first half and looked very sluggish as they found themselves trailing 4-2. In the second half the Bearcats looked like a totally different team as they went on to rack up six more goals while limiting Denison to just Two. Midfielders Zach Fehr and Ray Harper were instrumental in the win as they filled in for the Bearcats three injured face-off specialists and were able to win ten out of seventeen face-offs against Denison. Great games were also turned in by attackmen Bobby Nagle and Danny Macauley who scored four goals and two goals respectively. Although the first half was sloppy the Bearcat defense really stepped it up in the second half and did a great job of playing physical and imposing their will on the Denison attackmen.
The Bearcats took a quick fifteen minute break to rest and stretch out before suiting up again to play the Ohio State Buckeyes in what turned out to be a game the Bearcats will want to forget. Cincinnati came out slow, and let the game get away from them early as a barrage of dropped balls, bad passes, and missed assignments contributed to a hole to large for the Bearcats to climb out of. Cincinnati made a push in the second half and began playing better lacrosse, but it was too little too late as Cincinnati dropped their first game of the year. The stats tell the story of this game as Cincinnati lost the ground ball battle 20-12 and lost the face-off battle 16-7.
These games will move the Bearcats record to 5-1 on the season keeping Cincinnati at the top of the Midwest South Conference. UC will travel to Athens to take on the Ohio University Bobcats next week in hopes of avenging their overtime loss in the pre-season; don’t miss this opportunity as it promises to be a great game of lacrosse!
