Izzy Harris
Equinox Staff
Two players on the Men’s Keene State Lacrosse teams may have transferred schools, but they stayed within the same conference.
Alex Fawcett is a KSC sophomore who transferred in from UMASS Boston, and KSC sophomore Ben Bunnell transferred from UMASS Dartmouth.
After coming to Keene State, Bunnell said playing lacrosse here is, “So much better, the coaches are really into it, the team is really into it, everyone is really into it… I couldn’t ask for much more.”
Bunnell said that while he did play more at Dartmouth, he is happy with his position right now on the team.
The biggest change between teams for Bunnell was, “Competition and skillwise is the biggest thing that has changed… Keene plays a lot more high caliber teams than UMASS will ever play.”
Another aspect of Keene Bunnell said he liked is, “That everyone knows what there doing. [The] skill level is high so no one makes mistakes that much. It’s just a great team.”
Likewise, Fawcett noted that while playing for Keene, “I think the level of competition has increased which has probably made me better player I’d say. Everybody here wants to win. Everyone has the extra drive to be the best there. They are not just playing to say they play a college sport,” said Fawcett.
Both players have had the experience of playing the school they previously attended.
Fawcett said he had a little bit of anxiety going into the game against UMASS Boston, and felt a little bit of tension during the game.
“I had all the confidence in the world we were going to be in the winning that game… It was a lot nicer to be on the winning side of the scoreboard this year,” Fawcett said. “They wanted to beat us obviously and we wanted to beat them like any other game.”
On the other hand, Bunnell said he was really excited to play against his old team and coaches.
“[It was] one of the biggest games of the year for me and I was happy to play against them and score a couple of goals on them,” said Bunnell.
Bunnell said he was interested to see what had changed in a year with his old team, and how he would compete against them, “Being able to go against them and score a couple of goals was really a kick in the face… It was weird but at the same time it was exciting to be able to play with them” said Bunnell.
Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Mark Theriault said that, “Both of them are great additions to the team…they both come everyday with a great attitude and good work ethic and want to be a positive member of our team.”
As for players switching teams within their conference, Theriault said that it is more common to have players transfer into the KSC program rather that out.
“I never want other coaches from the other teams think that I’m trying to poach their players or take them away from their teams…that all happens with them [the player] initiating it first,” said Theriault.
Theriault concluded, “If it’s the right match and they want to go to a place that’s a bitter fit for them, they should do that. If they transfer out I hope it’s for the right reason and they are happy with their decisions.”
Izzy Harris can be contacted
at iharris@kscequinox.com
