On Saturday night, the Kent State men’s club lacrosse team handed Toledo its first loss of the season 9-5 in the home opener.  

“This home opener was a great opportunity for us to get some fans out and, you know, bring a little more notice to the program, you know, try and get our name out there,” President of Kent State Men’s Lacrosse Brendan Sweeney said. “Hopefully, our next home game, it’ll be a little bit warmer.” 

At half time, the Flashes took a major lead 7-1 against Toledo.  

“We wanted to get some of our younger guys and new guys to the program in the game for the second half,” Sweeney said. “This will get them some experience at this level.”  

The Flashes dominated the majority of the game. Toledo did not have a lot of guys on the bench for them that could come in and help them.  

“We came out and played really good as a team on both sides of the ball offensive defense,” Vice President of Kent State Men’s Lacrosse Zach Zaccaro said. 

Kent State athletes from last season had a different perspective on the win.  

“This season means a lot for me personally, because last year we made it to playoffs as a team, and I got injured in the second quarter,” Merrick Widdoes said. “I tore my ACL, so I missed our first two games. 

Widdoes returned this season for the Flashes and is motivated. 

“We want to get back to playoffs, and we want to get past that game that kind of stopped us last year,” Widdoes said. “We’re coming out each and every game with a lot of emotion and just ready to win games.” 

The Flashes look to continue their undefeated record in conference play (3-0) heading into this weekend. The team will face Xavier and Louisville in a double-header on March 25 at Xavier.  

“I think we’re the team to beat with how we’ve been playing in our conference,” Sweeney said. “As long as we make it through the conference playoffs, I think we’ll be able to make some noise at nationals this year.”  

Heidi Marshall is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].