After a 0-2 start, Goucher had reeled off five straight victories, which was one short of a school record. Tuesday night, the Gophers had a chance to tie the mark, but surrendered a 13-12 decision to Eastern Connecticut State.
Still, the run did wonders for team morale, according to coach Kyle Hannan.
"I don't think they're really wrapped up thinking that we're a great team right now, but it's always nice to win lacrosse games," he said. "I think what they're really sensing – and something that I'm really stressing to them – is to look at the big picture and look how we're growing as a team, and I think that's what they feel the best about. Every day, we get out there and they're working on different things and they're working on becoming more experience and becoming better. I know that's a little bit of a cliché, but I really believe with this team that you can see a difference."
The Gophers opened the season with back-to-back losses to Washington College (7-6) and No. 1 Gettysburg (16-6). While no one likes to lose, Hannan said he thought the team absorbed some valuable lessons from the setbacks.
"I feel like we played pretty well against Washington College," Hannan said. "We let a lead go and ended up playing a one-goal game. Just a couple days later, we had to go to Gettysburg, and they're the No. 1 team in the country. They scored early on us and once we settled down, it was really a good game in the second and third quarters. So coming out of those two losses, we felt like, 'Hey, we want to win lacrosse games.' But at the same time, we felt like it was a pretty good experience to kind of get in those game situations. And then we were able to get it together. … As young as we are, every day we're together, we're getting a little bit better. And once we won the first game and the young guys got confident, that kind of led to the second game. From day to day, you can see an improvement, especially offensively. We have a long way to go, but at the same time, I feel like we're on the right track."