The University of Rhode Island Men’s Club Lacrosse team is one of the best in the country. They are currently ranked 6th in the Division II Men’s Club Lacrosse Association (MCLA) week 5 coaches poll. 

The Rams had their first ranked matchup against 17th ranked at the time, Minnesota Duluth. This game was played on March 7th at 7 p.m. After starting the season 3-0 with dominant wins against UMass-Dartmouth (16-4), Maine (16-3), and Central Connecticut University (19-2). The Rams owned the Bulldogs from start to finish in this game, winning with a score of 14-5.

Senior Captain Keegan Reilly started off the scoring for both teams with a goal with 11:22 left in the first quarter. The Rams went on to score another goal answered by back-to-back Minnesota Duluth goals. The Rhody lacrosse team went on to have a strong finish to the first, with 2 unanswered goals leaving the Rams up 4-2. 

URI carried this momentum into the second quarter, by shutting out Duluth while tacking on 4 more goals. The Rams led 8-2 at halftime. The URI lacrosse team was not done yet, they came out of halftime strong with an instant score by senior captain Ian Schermerhorn. The Rams continued to handle business in the second half, outscoring the Bulldogs 6-3. The final buzzer sounded as the Rams celebrated their first-ranked win with a score of 14-5. 

The Rams were led by Senior Captain Keegan Reilly who scored 5 goals which led the team. Freshman attackman, Wil Bankowski, also had a great game with 5 ground balls and 4 goals. Senior Goalie, Luc Bolduc, locked down the Bulldogs with 8 saves. 

After a two week hiatus, the Rams were back in action on a rainy Saturday afternoon facing off against Southern Connecticut State University at 5 p.m. On the 23rd of March, the Rams came out firing, scoring 10 goals to the Owls 0. The dominance would continue in the second quarter for the Rams, scoring 8 more goals and ending the first half with a score of 18-0. The Rams went into the second half on cruise control finishing the game with a score of 24-0. 

The Rams will look to take this momentum into their next game against a D-1 Club Lacrosse program, the University of Connecticut. This will be the Ram’s toughest test of the season to date. Senior captain, Keegan Reilly said, “It’ll be a good game, I’m excited, I think that their our biggest competition.” This game will be played this Thursday at Meade Stadium at 7 p.m. Come show support for the Rams!

Reilly didn’t play in the Ram’s last contest against Southern Connecticut because of an ankle injury he had been dealing with. When asked about how his ankle was feeling going into Thursday’s game against Uconn Reilly said, \“It feels fine, I think it was a good little break to get back.” A sigh of relief for all Rams fans knowing that they will have their leading scorer back in action against Uconn. 

A cool storyline to follow with the team is how two of the senior captains Ian Schermerhorn and Keegan Reilly have been playing lacrosse together over the course of their careers on multiple different teams. The two first played together at a young age, on an AAU lacrosse team called Laxachusetts, and also played together in High School for La Salle Academy. 

“Being captains, it’s good to know each other really well, always being on the same page and understanding what the other likes and dislikes and how to go about being captains and players on both sides of the ball,” said Reilly.

This is also the team’s last home game before a 3 game road trip to Dayton, Ohio, where they will play 3 games in 3 days against Grand Valley State University, Dayton University, and St. Thomas University. These games will be played on April 5th, 6th, and 7th.