WATERVILLE — University of New England men’s lacrosse coach Jon Hunt said he knew going into the season the type of team the Nor’easters could be.

It’s a young team, carried by its defense and searching for its identity on offense.

It’s a struggle the Nor’easters have fought throughout the season, which continued on Tuesday night, as UNE lost 15-7 to Colby at Alfond Field.

After starting the season 4-0, UNE has gone 2-6 in the last eight games and is 6-6 on the regular season.

“We knew going into the year we’d be young offensively and our defense would carry us,” Hunt said. “I think they’ve done a pretty good job of that. We just need to clean up a couple of little execution errors in the middle of the field, and we’re right there.”

Though, as Hunt said after the game, Tuesday had more to do with the fact that the White Mules are an exceptional team, one that plays in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, a conference that houses the likes of Bates College, Trinity College and Bowdoin College.

“They’re an excellent team,” Hunt said. “We just got beat by a better team today.”

But shades of the Nor’easters’ struggles showed against Colby. Due to continuous pressure by the Mules, the normally stout UNE defense had trouble, as 43 shots were sent at goalkeeper Nate Porter. Ian Deveau led the Mules with five goals in the contest, while Garth Franklin and Jonathan McIvor each scored two goals.

The Nor’easters answered with 39 shots of their own, but Colby’s defense prevented UNE from getting near goalkeeper Peter Reiley. This forced UNE to take shots away from the net for much of the second half and many of the Nor’easters’ shots were off target.

“We were just trying to run our (defensive) sets, lock down the (defense),” Deveau said. “They scored a bunch of goals against us in the first half in transition, and we were just trying to figure that all out so we could play fast in the second half but not give up any goals.”

Still, UNE trailed 9-5 at halftime, thanks to two goals by leading scorer Tyler Thomas, as well as goals by Eddie Burke, George Jenkins and Geoff Bruno.

But then the Mules broke out in the second half, outscoring the Nor’easters 6-2. Deveau added two more goals in the second half to up his total to five in the contest.

“One of our goals was to just play fast, get everybody involved and it worked out,” Deveau said. “My teammates were all moving the ball well, and we did a good job.”

“Our shots were falling in the first half,” Hunt said. “(Colby’s) was falling in the second.”

Matt Anderson and Mike Pennacchio added the final two goals for UNE.

UNE has five games left in the regular season, with games against Gordon, Nichols, Salve Regina, Western New England and Curry to close out the season. The Nor’easters are currently fifth in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, but with four of their final five games against CCC opponents, the Nor’easters still have time to make up ground and have a higher seed in the standings.

They also have five games of added experience for the 15 freshmen and sophomores on the roster, while still pushing the group toward the playoffs.

“We’re just trying to get those guys to age quickly,” Hunt said. “Trying to get them comfortable with the college game. We’re getting there.”

UNE hosts Nichols on at noon Saturday.

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow on Twitter @Dave_Dyer.