Men's Lacrosse wins 10-7 on Tuesday against Oglethorpe
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas men's lacrosse team picked up its first home win of the season in a 10-7 decision over Oglethorpe University on a wet Tuesday afternoon. After pushing the start time back an hour due to thunderstorms in the morning, the skies cleared for the tilt, but field conditions were still sloppy.
Dallas (2-5), who never trailed, jumped out to a 4-2 advantage by the conclusion of the first quarter. The goal total was the highest for either side in a single frame. Freshman Peter Early (San Antonio, Texas) extended his scoring streak to seven games with the first goal about a minute out of the opening faceoff. Teammate Paul Mosimann (Manassas, Va.) netted his first collegiate goal to double the advantage with 7:56 minutes until the first break.
The Stormy Petrels (0-7) would get on the scoreboard as John Hood found the back of the net within the next minute.
Freshman Ben Blessard (Falls Church, Va.) fired back-to-back goals for the Crusaders with 6:50 left and 4:25 left, respectively, to push the home squad's lead to three (4-1). Oglethorpe's Sulton Rahim cut the deficit to 4-2 with 1:40 ticks remaining in the quarter.
The next quarter saw the momentum start on UD's side of the ball. Senior Alex Ziolkowski (Ann Arbor, Mich.) mustered two straight goals to give the Crusaders their largest edge of the match 6-2. Blessard dished an assist on the first Ziolkowski goal with 12:51. Sophomore Joshua McClendon (Redondo Beach, Calif.) was credited with an assist with 8:04 until half.
It was 6-4 at halftime, as Thomas O'Berry and Andrew Houghton netted goals for the road team. Houghton's goal occurred with 3:28 before intermission.
Goals were traded the rest of the game, as Blessard notched one of two Dallas hat tricks to start the exchange with 8:44 to go in the third quarter. Early picked up an assist on both scoring plays for the Crusaders. He assisted freshman Ryan Thie (Saint Paul, Minn.) on the attacker's first goal since a hat trick in the season-opener.
At the start of the final quarter, Ziolkowski secured the other hat trick with a goal about 15 seconds from the clock starting. Oglethorpe's Tyler Stridiron hit his second goal for the team in a row to cut the gap to 9-7. Early managed his consecutive multi-scoring match with a goal just over four minutes to secure the win and end a five-game slide.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
-Ziolkowski logged a season-high three goals and attempted a team-high nine shots. Blessard also managed a personal best three goals and was right behind in shots with eight. He put seven on cage.
- Early rounded out the top shooters on the team with seven attempts. He now leads the team with 12 goals, and Ziolkowski is right under double-digits in season goals with nine. The duo both chipped in four points, as Early made two assists and Ziolkowksi added a helper.
- Dallas went 27-for-37 in clear attempts, while the Stormy Petrels were 25-for-29. Ziolkowski won all 11 of UD's faceoffs in 20 opportunities. The Navy and White were 11-for-21.
- Senior Ryan Murphy (Yorba Linda, Calif.) logged a season-high 74.1 save percentage with 20 saves versus 27 shots faced. He worked 60 minutes for his 2nd credited win and now has 571 stops in his career.
- Murphy and Ziolkowski led the Crusaders in groundballs with six apiece. Freshman Michael Kerner (Stevensville, Md.) picked up a career-high five groundballs. Junior Jacob Tom (Waukesha, Wis.) also had five.
- Oglethorpe did outshoot the opponent 39-35 and had more one more groundball (38-37).
- Houghton garnered a game-high 10 shots with seven on cage. Stridiron was a perfect seven-for-seven with shots on cage. The duo had two goals between the two. Andrew Kwapil and Hood led the team with seven groundballs apiece.
- Lane Edwards took the loss in the goalkeeper position. He completed 12 saves against 22 shots faced in 60 minutes.
UP NEXT
Dallas is still on the long home stand, as the play game three over a five-day span. March 11 the Crusaders host Franciscan University at 2 p.m. The Barons (1-1) won 15-10 yesterday against Oglethorpe University.