The University of Rhode Island men’s club lacrosse team defeated the University of Connecticut On Thursday, by a score of 18-6 at Meade Stadium.
After winning their first five games against the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, the University of Maine, Central Connecticut State University, the University of Minnesota Duluth and most recently, a 24-0 win over Southern Connecticut State University, URI was looking to win their sixth-straight game and stay undefeated on the season. The Rams took an early 2-0 lead and would hold onto it for the rest of the game, winning by a score of 18-6. In their last two games, URI has won by 10 or more goals and has only allowed six, while their defense hasn’t let up more than six in one game so far this season.
The top scorers for the Rams were first-year Wil Bankowski and fourth-year Keegan Riley – they both scored four goals. Riley assisted on four goals as well and Bankwoski tallied three assists.
“Our goalie, Liam, played great today,” URI Head Coach Charlie White said. “He played great in net today. I’m proud of all of our defenders. We have a lot of great seniors leading the defense.”
Second-year goalie Liam Simoneau had eight saves.
“I’d say we could play a full 60 minutes,” White said. “I think towards the end we felt we were up by a lot. We took our mind off the game for the last 15 minutes and gave them a couple quick ones in a tighter game. We need to keep our composure through the whole thing.”
This is the mindset for Rhode Island going into their set of games over this weekend from April 5-7.
Rhody’s undefeated streak hasn’t looked to be in danger yet and the numbers behind it show why. Their average margin of victory over their six games is 14.5 goals and their average goals allowed is 3.3, while scoring an average of 15.1 goals per game. While the numbers reflect positively on the team’s play, White is more concerned about the team’s overall performance than the score.
“We’re not worried about the final score,” White said. “We’re more worried about what we could have done better, what we did well, things we can build on for the next game.”
The Rams are looking to nail down the fundamentals and play their game and to avoid costly penalties, according to White.
Up next, URI will take a trip this weekend to Dayton, Ohio where they will play their first game against Grand Valley State University on Friday. They will then battle against Dayton University on Saturday, before finally wrapping up their trip on Sunday with a 10 a.m. game against St.Thomas University.