On this day 20 years ago, our fledgling boys’ lacrosse program, in only its second year of varsity play, motored down to Charlottesville, VA for a spring break skirmish with perennial power St. Anne’s-Belfield, a program that has won seven Virginia state crowns since 1980 and is perennially ranked in the upper echelon of the “Old Dominion.” As if the challenge were not great enough, the Bears were missing three starters who were unable to make the trip and were additionally hampered by a Virginia lacrosse rule limiting the number of long poles on a team, requiring Todd Weiss and Nate Carlson to play with short sticks for the first time.

Despite these setbacks, the Brook jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind two goals by Sam Hanchett and a score from Matt Bell. St. Anne’s bounced back with two straight goals to cut their deficit to 3-2 by halftime. Just a few minutes into the third quarter, the Saints found the net twice in a 30-second span to take a 4-3 lead. Their run continued with a tally at the 2:20 mark, but James Hagn came through with a huge goal with just 38 seconds on the clock.

Trailing 5-4 entering the fourth quarter, the Bears matched their offensive output from the previous three frames with four unanswered goals in the pivotal period. Bell tied the game with nine minutes left and Toby Hanchett scored the eventual game winner with 7:25 remaining. The Saints were eventually handed an 8-5 defeat by their northern visitors as Hagn finished with 3 goals, Sam Hanchett and Bell with 2 goals apiece, and Toby Hanchett with a goal and 4 assists.

Bell remembered what it was like to beat St. Anne’s on their home turf: “When we were walking around the UVA community the day before and people would ask us who we were playing, they were so confident we were going to lose. But we had great coaches and great players and wanted to show what we could do.”

Although a couple of Stony Brook players had to wield shorter lacrosse sticks Friday, it was St. Anne's-Belfield that ended up getting the short end of the proverbial stick.

Stony Brook, a team from Long Island, NY, scored four unanswered goals in the second half to gain an 8-5 victory over the homestanding Saints.

Because Virginia lacrosse rules dictate that a team field no more than four players with long sticks at one time, two Stony Brook defensemen--Todd Weiss and Nate Carlson--were forced to play with short sticks for the first time. New York rules allow for as many as nine players to use long sticks.

In the first quarter, however, it appeared that short sticks and missing starters would do little to faze Stony Brook.

~ The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA)

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