Northwestern-St. Paul 7-0 Start clips Crusaders Thursday
IRVING, Texas – A sluggish start was too much to overcome on Thursday afternoon for the University of Dallas men's lacrosse team. Seven unanswered goals for the University of Northwestern (1-3) in the first two quarters combined lifted the team to a 10-5 victory. The Crusaders (2-5) dropped both matches at home this week.
NOTABLE STATISTICS
(Individual Notes)
- Peter Early (San Antonio, Texas) stretched his scoring streak to four games and point's streak to five games. His pair of goals gave the team leader 30 for his career in his sophomore season.
- Bogar Trout III (Tecumseh, Mich.) produced his first collegiate points on a pair of goals of his own.
- Early matched Jacob Tom (Waukesha, Wis.) with five shots for team-highs. Early led the team in groundballs with seven. Jonah Torres-Swanson (Austin, Texas), and Charles Buxton (Stonington, Conn.) added four to the team's season-best (37).
- Tyler Smith (Snoqualmie, Wash.) and Buxton each won six faceoffs for UD.
- The Eagles were led by Keller Stephens and Noah Vanderkooi with hat tricks apiece. Derek Stone added a multiple goal game with two. Brady Minich and Galvin Welch each recorded two points on a goal and assist.
- Zach Shockencey matched UD's Christian Lopez (Las Vegas, Nev.) with 13 saves in the net.
(Team Notes)
- Dallas was outshot 40-29 by UNW overall. The 18 shots on cage for the Crusaders tied a season-most with the season opener against Fontbonne University.
- As mentioned above, the Crusaders mustered a new season most in groundballs (37) and had four more than their opposition.
-UD went 12-for-18 on faceoffs and were 20-for-29 in successful clears.
- Northwestern was charged with nine penalties, but the Crusaders only took advantage on one man-up goal.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Two minutes into regulation and Minich scored an unassisted goal to give the Eagles the lead for the remainder of the contest. About two and a half minutes later Stephens connected on a pass from Minich to make it 2-0. Northwestern added goals from Welch and Vanderkooi respectively at 6:50 and 4:45 to complete the first quarter scoring.
It did not get easier most of the second frame as UNW added a trio of goals. Vanderkooi fired his second goal in a row around the same time the Eagles had scored first in the opening stanza. Stone joined the goal column on back-to-back ones for the guests to cap a 7-0 advantage. Stone's first goal was down a man at 11:26. With barely under five until halftime, Stone received a pass from Welch and pounded his second goal.
Meanwhile, the Crusaders offense was stifled by Shockencey guarding the Eagles' cage. He made seven saves in the second quarter after facing no shots the first 15 minutes.
Dallas got on the board with Trout III shooting a hard ball that bounced off the keeper and landed behind him just over the crease of the goal. That happened with 1:16 remaining in the quarter, and Early kept his scoring streak rolling with a netter at 46 ticks on the clock.
Down five through intermission, Trout III made his second goal of the game and career for the only scoring result on either side in the third. Ben Blessard (Falls Church, Va.) assisted on the play to give him points in five in a row. He has etched a point in all but one match this season.
The offense for Northwestern was held scoreless for 25:41 in the second half. Vanderkooi broke up the quiet attack with his third goal at 5:19 and extended the UD deficit back to five (8-3). Smith responded shortly after with a goal on an assist from Early. Stephens kept the momentum with the Eagles on consecutive goals to count the other hat trick in the game. His second goal at 1:50 made it 10-4. Early's second goal to give him 4 games with at least that many came a few plays later, but time ran out on the Crusaders.
UP NEXT
Dallas takes over a week off before traveling on a road match to Huntingdon College on March 19. After that, the Crusaders close the month of March with two matches at home against Calvin College and Piedmont College.