Men's Lacrosse falls Sunday to Ottawa University

IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas men's lacrosse team (1-1) dropped its home-opener in an 18-4 final on Sunday afternoon. Ottawa University (1-0) would tally the first 13 goals in the match to build a 13-1 advantage heading into halftime.

After trailing 5-0 in the first quarter, the Braves pushed the lead to double-digits with their eight-goal second. That was the highest scoring frame of the contest. The run was ended by freshman Peter Early (San Antonio, Texas) with a goal in the last 13 seconds before the horn for intermission. It was his second of the campaign.

Dallas would counter the first two scoring plays in the third quarter with a pair by freshman Carlo Monacelli (Houston, Texas). It was his spring season debut. Each goal occurred within about two and a half minutes of each other and were near the halfway juncture of the frame.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

- Dallas did outshot the Braves 43-41, but OU had a 31-20 edge for shots placed on cage.

- Senior Matthew Cyr (St. Louis, Mo.) led the Crusaders with 10 shots, while classmate Alex Ziolkowski (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Early added eight attempts each. Monacelli chipped in five shots with three on cage.

- Ottawa picked up 34 ground balls compared to UD's 30. Ziolkowski was the lone player in double figures with a game-high of 11. Both goalkeepers on each team managed five apiece.

- Senior Ryan Murphy (Yorba Linda, Calif.) notched 13 saves while facing 31 shots against. Ottawa's Joel Harrell picked up the win with 16 saves against 20 shots on cage. Both keepers went the distance.

- The Braves were a perfect 7-of-7 in clears for the second quarter, and also claimed four goals on power plays. Dallas won 14 faceoffs out of 25 opportunities. Ziolkowski picked up each of them for UD, and was one away from tying a career-best.

UP NEXT

Dallas continues a lengthy 10-game home stand with a pair of matches next week. The Crusaders welcome Huntingdon College on February 12 with a 3 p.m. start time.