In front of a packed and noisy crowd Feb. 23 at Virtue Field, the UVM men’s lacrosse team beat the Quinnipiac University 20-10.

The Bobcats entered the game with five of their seniors, four of whom are starters, suspended for violating student conduct policy involving alcohol and hazing, according to an October 2018 NBC article.

Vermont Head Coach Chris Feifs said the seniors’ absence didn’t change UVM’s plan of attack entering the game.

“It didn’t affect our planning a lot because I think they have talented young guys,” Feifs said. “I think for them it probably lead to a little inconsistency which bailed us out a little bit with some of our mistakes.”

The game began with a quick 2-1 Vermont lead in the first two minutes, with goals by senior midfielder Jack Knight and first-year midfielder Thomas McConvey.

The pair scored two more goals each during the quarter, both unassisted from the left corner.

Thomas McConvey’s twin brother, Jonathon, is also a first-year midfielder on the team who scored later in the game.

Just before the end of the first period with the score at 6-2, first-year attacker David Closterman slid out-of-bounds while chasing a ball that almost left the field.

Closterman passed the ball to Knight, who immediately scored unassisted with a hat trick, the third of his college lacrosse career, according to UVM athletics.

The score quickly rose to 7-4 in the second period when Vermont called for a timeout after two consecutive Quinnipiac goals.

Seeming refreshed from the break, Jonathon McConvey scored, as did junior midfielder Liam Rischmann seconds later.

Going into halftime, the score was 10-5.

After five more UVM goals in the third period, senior defender Warren Jeffrey crashed hard into another Vermont player sending both to the ground and gave the Bobcats a goal.

Jeffrey was a high school teammate of the McConvey brothers, according to UVM athletics.

Jeffrey rose very slowly and limped off the field with an athletic trainer, but Feifs said after the game the team suffered no injuries.

After Jeffrey’s fall, the Catamounts rallied for five more goals to end the game, including two by senior midfielder Bryan Cahill.

Feifs was pleased by the team’s second highest scoring game of the season.

“I’m proud of the team today and most proud of the fact that we went perfect in the clearing game, that’s a focus right now,” Feifs said.

The highest scoring game the team did have this season came against the University of Utah in their first game Feb. 1, according to UVM athletics.

He also believed that Quinnipiac was not at their finest during the game.

“I don’t think we got to see the full power of Quinnipiac today, but that’s out of our control and we just try to play the best that we can every week,” Feifs said.

UVM’s win left Quinnipiac with a 0-3 record. Last season, they had a 9-6 record, according to the Quinnipiac lacrosse website.

Although the Catamounts 3-1 record is strong, it does not quite compare to the first seven games in a row that they won to start last year’s season.

The team’s 12-4 overall record last year leaves much to live up to, despite falling short in the America East tournament.

It was still their best record of this decade, according to UVM athletics.

This season will bring just three more home games, despite nine regular season games remaining.

The next men’s lacrosse game is at noon March 2 at Boston University.

The men’s lacrosse players could not be reached for comment.