The men’s lacrosse team has outscored opponents 33-8 since returning from spring break and credit their friendship off the field to their chemistry on the field.
Ohio is having so much fun winning, some seniors on the lacrosse team won't even walk during graduation because of a conference tournament during the same weekend.
“It’s worth it,” Mario Dean, a senior defenseman, said. “It’s awesome to stay around here and hang out with all the guys for a week longer.”
Since starting the spring portion of the season after spring break, Ohio is 3-0 and 7-0 overall on the season. Ohio will travel to Columbus this weekend to play conference rivals Michigan and Ohio State.
“We’re just a team that clicks well together,” coach Nick Lewis said. “And I definitely think we can make it further (into the playoffs) this year.”
This bond off the field has translated into some convincing wins for the Bobcats so far. Since coming back from spring break, the Bobcats have outscored their opponents 33-8. In that three-game stretch, Ohio had nine players score during an 11-6 win over West Virginia.
Lewis and Dean agreed players need to come to the team’s daily practices with “a purpose to get better," if the Bobcats want to advance farther into the playoffs than last season. Last year, Ohio lost in the quarterfinals to Penn State in 2015.
“We have so much talent,” Lewis said. “You just got to keep focused and take it week by week, day by day.”
While the Bobcats remain undefeated, the team wasn’t nearly as dominant in the fall portion of the season as they have been lately. Ohio won three of its four games by just one goal during the fall semester, including an overtime win against Ohio State to end the fall season.
Since returning from spring break, though, the Bobcats have been outscoring opponents by an average of eight goals.
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Despite the recent success, Lewis doesn’t want the Bobcats to get ahead of themselves just yet.
“If we just play game by game till we get there we’ll have a chance to do very well in the tournament," Lewis said.
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