Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of 11 preseason stories looking at men’s lacrosse teams in the NESCAC, regarded as the strongest league in Division 3, counting down to the season openers in late February.
It’s been a long time since Colby College has crossed anyone’s mind as a NESCAC contender.
The last time the program played in the championship game -- in 2002 -- some of the current players on the team weren’t even born.
It’s a league whose top programs -- national Division 3 powers like Amherst, Tufts, Williams and Wesleyan -- concede ground grudgingly, if they concede it all. So the other programs know they need to dig in, get a foothold and try to keep climbing up a rough slope.