PREVIEW: Dallas at Fontbonne University (4/25) | Illinois Wesleyan University (4/26)
(Photo Graphic Courtesy of Hannah Miller)
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
Livestats (4/25 at Fontbonne University)
Livestats (4/26 at Illinois Wesleyan University)
THE LEAD
The University of Dallas men's lacrosse team (5-10) finish the last two contests of the regular season on April 25 and April 26 at Fontbonne University (0-14) and Illinois Wesleyan University (10-6), respectively. Both affairs are slated to begin at 12 p.m.
Dallas has been on its lengthiest road stretch since five-straight to close the 2011 spring campaign out. The Crusaders went 1-4 during that span. The current squad is 0-5, dropping a season-most in a row with the final two to close out a seven-game stint.
The Navy and White are 2-9 away from Irving, Texas, this year. Dallas has gone undefeated in all five matches the group has shattered double figures. On the current road stint, UD has accumulated 18 goals altogether.
LAST WEEKEND
It was a tough pair of outings on consecutive days as the Dallas men's lacrosse team was shut out for the first time this spring 23-0 at Concordia University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Crusaders dropped a 16-2 game at Milwaukee School of Engineering last Sunday.
After trailing six through one quarter, MSOE rattled off a 10-goal frame to open the contest 16-0 at intermission. The visitors totaled seven shots and three on cage in a difficult opponent defense.
Dallas was behind 11-0 at the half on Sunday versus the Raiders, and would be limited to nine attempts by another tough opposition. The top two scorers for the Navy and White got the club on the board in the third and fourth quarter, and each tallied three shots. Juniors Matthew Cyr (St. Louis, Mo.) and Alex Ziolkowski (Ann Arbor, Mich.) found the back of the cage in the respective scoring quarters.
IMPACT PLAYERS
Cyr has been the team-leader throughout the spring and enters the final two contests ranked atop the squad with personal-bests: 39 goals, 44 points, 127 shots, 70 shots on goal, and 97 groundballs. The midfielder has scored in 13 of 15 games this season, and has notched a team-high eight hat tricks. His five assists also rank second.
Ziolkowski is slotted second on the leaderboard with career-highs 19 goals, 22 points, and 85 shots. Senior Cody Wooten (Aurora, Colo.) rounds out the top three scorers in double figures with 13 goals and has dished out a team-high six assist. His 29 shots on cage out of 43 attempts reflects a 67.4 shots on goal percentage.
In the goalkeeper position, junior Ryan Murphy (Yorba Linda, Calif.) has amassed 867:59 minutes in 15 starts, with 264 saves, and has notched a 54.3 save percentage. Through April 19, Murphy remains the number one in the NCAA for saves per game; stopping a 19.90-clip.
SCOUTING FONTBONNE
The Griffins remain in search of their first victory of the 2015 season, and are 0-6 at home. The most recent setback was a 16-8 result versus Cornell College a week ago. Both team's playing tomorrow have tallied 88 netters on the season.
Fontbonne is averaging 6.29 goals-per game and is led by Brett Harris with 26. Marcus Seale and Brian Nguyen round out the top three double-digit performers with 14 and 12, respectively. Joey Mirth has been an outstanding distributor with 19 assists being made.
The programs last met in 2012 at Crusader Field, and the Griffins took the contest 19-2. Wooten did play in the meeting, picking up four groundballs and shot once placing it on cage.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS WESLEYAN
The Titans have lost their last two games, but are 6-1 at the friendly confines in Boomington, Illinois. IWU last played Wednesday in an 11-7 setback against Augustana College. Prior to that it was a 9-8 overtime heartbreaker with Carthage College last Saturday, which ended a season-most, eight-game winning streak.
This squad has mustered 13.50 goals a contest and is holding foes to 8.75. Individually pacing the group is Tim Smith with 46 goals, which is one of four players etching at least 30 netters this year. Also part of the quartet are: Michael Julius with 40, Nick Winter with 37, and Alex Lambert with 30.
A steady amount of contribution has come from Colin Daly, Evan Mok-Lamme, and James Maibuecher with 22, 18, and 12, respectively. The goalie earning the majority of minutes with 494:40 is Steven Laduzinsky. Reagan Penner, Mark Dezell, and Jordan Staley also have seen minutes between the pipes.
The programs have never met dating back to 2011 on the digital archives.
END OF CAMPAIGN
Sunday's finale wraps up a program-most wins of at least five for first-year Head Coach Keith Lindgren.
SOCIAL MEDIA
UD Twitter: @UDallasSports
Men's Lacrosse: @UDallasMLax
Facebook: University of Dallas Athletics