Whoever plays against the Panther men’s lacrosse team will make sure they have their eyes on… Whoever plays against the Panther men’s lacrosse team will make sure they have their eyes on No. 9.

Warren Maxwell has boosted Pitt to a 3-0 start, including the two wins this past weekend against Buffalo and Purdue. Maxwell scored seven goals over the weekend and recorded two more assists in both games, to bring his season total to 12 goals and five assists.

On Friday, Maxwell scored three goals and led the Panthers to an 11-10 double-overtime victory.

However, it was not Maxwell who scored the game-winner for the Panthers. Attackman Jason Dawson picked up a hat trick, beating Buffalo’s goaltender Jason Reynolds.

Despite allowing 11 goals, Reynolds made 21 saves. On all 21 saves, the Panther who shot the ball reacted by grabbing their head, amazed that Reynolds stopped the shot.

The Panthers at one point trailed 9-6, just as they did in their first game of the season against Michigan State. And history repeated itself, as Pitt scored four goals to take a 10-9 lead.

“We’ve got heart,” head coach Robbie Heaps said. “And it shows.”

Midfielder Craig Anderson played a key role in Pitt’s comeback and finished with three goals and two assists.

On Sunday, the Panthers were back in action against Purdue, who had just lost to Buffalo, 10-8, the night before.

Pitt’s offense was sparked again by Maxwell, who scored four goals in Panther’s 14-11 victory over the Boilermakers.

Midfielder Vlady Tintchev recorded the game winner in this game and Dawson followed up with an insurance goal to keep the Panthers out of reach. Tintchev finished with two goals and Dawson recorded three assists to go with his goal.

Anderson played strong again, capturing a goal and three assists.

The high-flying Panthers look to continue their early season success when they travel to Georgetown to take on No. 23 Texas.

— Jimmy Johnson, Staff Writer

Women’s lacrosse downs two opponents

The No. 8 Pitt women’s lacrosse team scored 33 goals in two games on Sunday to defeat Kent State, 16-4, and Slippery Rock, 17-1, and improved to 8-1 on the season.

Thirteen different players combined for the 33-goal outburst by the Panthers. Becky Krinsky led the way with seven goals and two assists in the two games, while Roxanne O’Connell paced Krinsky with six goals and one assist.

Kent State stayed with the Panthers for the first five minutes of the game, answering both of the Panthers’ early goals to tie the game at two. But from there on out, Pitt dominated. Krinsky scored the next two goals for the Panthers and Pitt took a commanding 8-2 halftime lead.

Krinsky led all scorers with four goals and two assists and O’Connell had three goals and one assist.

Pitt cruised in the second half to its seventh victory of the season. Molly Suda had two goals and three assists for the Panthers, while Tracey Eisen had a goal and two assists.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Pitt dominated the entire way. Slippery Rock never led and never even came close. The Panthers cruised to the victory behind three goals from O’Connell, Krinsky, and Jamie Knotts each.

— Brian Goldman, Staff Writer

Equestrian gets off on the right foot

Pitt’s equestrian club offers affordable riding to students and is open to riders of all skill levels.

“[Our] club unites students from across the university community who share a common love of horses,” said team member Emma Taylor.

The team also has a variety of events, such as barn clean ups and other fundraisers that will take place over the course of the semester.

Within the club, there is a show team, which is made up of riders who compete for the school in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.

The team is currently ranked No. 2 in the region, and has several riders who have already qualified for regional competition in April.

This past weekend, the team competed at Wilson College. Riders were judged on both position and effectiveness. The team scores points for each ribbon won by individual riders and the team with the most points wins the show.

Not only was Pitt the high-point team, it also had the reserve high-point rider for the day in Kira Mamula, who finished second in total points. Mamula was one of two Pitt riders to finish first. She placed first in novice fences, while Margaret Mahoney earned a first place recognition in advanced walk, trot, canter.

Pitt’s next show is at Allegheny College on March 7.

— Ryan Walker, senior staff writer

Crew heads south for spring break

While most students will be partying during their spring break, Pitt’s crew team will head to South Carolina to practice some more.

The team will head to Summerton, S. Ca., and stay at Camp Bob Cooper for one week where they will practice three times a day.

“Basically we do three things: Eat, sleep and row,” said Nick Irvin. “As boring as that sounds, I had a lot of fun last year.”

It won’t be all hard work though, as the team will head to Charleston, S. Ca., for a day of walking around, and will also compete with other crew teams in basketball tournaments and beach volleyball organized by the camp.

The camp will feature a few other crew teams as well, which will allow the coaches to communicate amongst each other about any problems that arise. Pitt crew, however, looks forward to practicing in warm weather.

“It’s just a place where we can stay and row with good weather during spring break,” said Irvin. “It will be a real good time.”

— Alan Smodic, Staff Writer

Water polo struggles at CMU tournament

Pitt’s co-ed water polo team played in a tournament at Carnegie Mellon this past weekend, winning one of the four games it played.

The Panthers played three games Saturday, starting off against Army. A team that is all male and practices everyday, Army dominated the Panthers in every aspect of the game, winning 16-1.

“Army is ridiculous,” scorer Mike Adam said. “They practice everyday and have some guys that swim competitively.”

In game two against Toledo, the Panthers were once again matched up against an all male squad. Adam kept the game close with three goals, but the Rockets were able to pull away at the end and win 9-7.

In the last game of the day, the Panthers faced off against Millersville. Sara Podgurski scored three goals, sending the game into overtime, tied at nine. In overtime, the Panthers scored four times in the two three-minute overtime periods to win, 13-11. Adam scored two of Pitt’s four goals in the overtime session, which proved to be the difference.

“We just wanted it more than them,” Adam said. “We are on the same level of play as Toledo and Millersville.”

On Sunday, Pitt came out sluggish and fell behind early to CMU, and the Tartans cruised to an 11-6 victory. Over the weekend, Adam led the Panthers with nine goals in four games.

— BG