Exeter 11  Loomis Chaffee 12
Sat, 4/24, Exeter, NH - Exeter gave up two late 4th quarter goals in the last four minutes of the game, and suffered their first loss of the 2004 season to a very good Loomis Chaffee team. The BIG RED had just finished playing their best and most inspired sixteen minutes of lacrosse of the season as they turned a 10-6 deficit midway through the 3rd quarter into an 11-10 lead with only five minutes remaining in the game. At this point in the game, it looked like Exeter's lead would increase to a two-goal margin as defenseman Tom Rubel raced coast to coast with the ball, and nobody from the Loomis defense picked him up. Tom's shot was saved by the Loomis goalie, and an Exeter penalty shortly followed on a loose ball scrum near the midfield line. Although Exeter was able to successfully defend against the Loomis man-up advantage, the defense did not communicate well when they transitioned to an all-even situation. The result was a Loomis player left unguarded, and the tying goal was scored with four minutes left to play. Play seesawed back and forth to both ends of the field with Exeter controlling most of the action. Exeter caused a turnover and gained possession in its own defensive zone with less than two minutes to play. A broken clear resulted in a quick restart for Loomis with an open man in front of the Exeter goal as defenders tried to hustle back before the quick restart whistle. Unfortunately, Loomis scored and went ahead 12-11 with 1:46 left on the clock. Exeter came up with the ball for the final minute to try and tie the game. Despite several shot attempts, Exeter was unable to knot the score. For the 2nd year in a row, Loomis beats Exeter by one goal in a very exciting, competitive, and physical game. The beginning of the game was all Exeter's way, as we maintained possession, moved the ball well on offense, and Tom Petty(2) and Kirk Bansak combined for three goals in the first three minutes of play. Loomis kept the game close although they rarely had the ball most of the quarter. They made the score 1-1 off of a face-off fastbreak, and made the score 3-2 when they scored off of a desperation heave downfield that was scooped up by a Loomis attackman who got behind his defender. Several questionable penalty calls gave Loomis some man-up situations, and they were able to capitalize on one of them to tie the score at 3-3. Exeter did not play well for much of the 2nd quarter and four minutes into the third quarter. Exeter fell behind 8-6 at the half, and eventually 10-6 before they started the comeback. Although disappointing, Exeter will learn a lot from this tough loss and use it to their advantage for the rest of the season. There were many standout performances for Exeter. Bobby Goulding did a super job on almost twenty faceoffs, winning the majority. Attackman Tim Redmond came up huge with a 4 goal and 3 assist effort, while Tom Petty and Sloan Smith each scored two goals. Sloan's goals were back to back in the 4th quarter, with his second goal tying the score at 10-10. Kirk Bansak was all over the field on ground balls, scored a goal, and cleared the ball well. Michael Scalise also did some faceoffs, scored a goal and had an assist, and played smart lacrosse all over the field. Dylan Cox had an exceptional game at defense, and Julian Rodier made many spectacular saves, particularly in the first half.
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Team	1st quarter	2nd quarter	3rd quarter	4th quarter	Game Total
Exeter	3	3	1	4	11
Loomis Chaffee	2	6	2	2	12

Game Scoring - Goals - Redmond(4), Smith(2), Petty(2), Horan, Bansak, Scalise

                           Assists - Redmond(3), Goulding, Scalise

Saves/Shots on Goal - Rodier 14/26