PREVIEW: Men's Lacrosse at Johnson & Wales (4/14) | Colorado College (4/15)
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
(Johnson & Wales University)
(Colorado College)
SOCIAL MEDIA
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FIRST FACEOFF
The University of Dallas men's lacrosse team makes its final road trip of the season. On Friday, April 14, Dallas plays Johnson & Wales University at 7 p.m. (MST). On Saturday, the Crusaders conclude the campaign at Colorado College for a 1 p.m. (MST) start.
First-year head coach Sam Ashton's team is 2-10 coming into the weekend. His squad enjoyed over a week off, as the last contests the Crusaders played were the first two days of the month. After falling by two (9-7) at Carroll University, UD dropped an 18-3 result at University of Dubuque the next day.
UD NOTES
- Peter Early (San Antonio, Texas) is the team's leading scorer with 17 goals and has 25 points. He has recorded a point in all but two contests this season and has posted multiple goals in six-of-eight games he found the back of the cage in.
- Tyler Smith (Snoqualmie, Wash.) and Ben Blessard (Falls Church, Va.) are tied in points with 19 apiece.
- Smith has scored 13 goals and placed 24 of his 36 shots on cage for a 66.7 percent result. Smith has 80 faceoff wins and has secured a team-high 84 groundballs. Blessard is the leader on the squad in assists with nine and rounds out a trio of double-digit scorers with 10 goals.
- Christian Lopez (Las Vegas, Nev.) ranks third in NCAA Division III for saves-per-game (17.55) and is third in total saves against NCAA opponents (193). The freshman has accumulated 207 saves and has eclipsed double-digits in 11 contests this season.
- Bogar Trout III (Tecumesh, Mich.) notched an assist at Carroll University almost two weeks ago. He is the only other active player on the roster with multiple scores besides the top trio mentioned above.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
(Johnson & Wales University)
- The Wildcats sit 1-8 on the season, with that lone victory at home a little over a month ago. Currently the team has dropped the past five.
- JWU is on a four-game home stretch this month to finish the season. It has allowed exactly 20 goals in the most recent two setbacks. Last Saturday, JWU fell to Metro State 20-7.
- Men's lacrosse is currently offered as a club team at Johnson & Wales. However, the school announced in March that it will become the ninth member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) in 2017-18.
- Gage Blottenberger paces the offense with 15 goals and 16 points.
- Coleton Threlkeld follows with six goals.
- He forms a trio of players with six points. Kenneth Preston has four goals and Matthew Zoe has produced three goals and assists.
- Evan Longinott has nabbed 112 saves and posted a 16.63 goals-allowed-average (GAA) through all eight matches.
- Dallas fell 16-8 on the road in 2015 during the lone previous meeting between these programs.
- Only Jacob Tom (Waukesha, Wis.) and Toby Zanini (Boston, Mass.) are returning players that appeared in that matchup.
- JWU's Longinott made 12 saves and Blottenberger notched a hat trick.
(Colorado College)
- The Tigers are 9-3 on the season and have won four in a row.
- The Tigers topped Southwestern University (19-6) and Whittier College (13-9) in the most recent series of matches last weekend.
- CC is 7-1 at the friendly confines.
- Colorado College will play Westminster College on Thursday before hosting fellow SCAC member on Saturday.
- Robbie Stern is the leader in goals with 37. His 44 points rank second behind the top performer offensively. Austin Davie holds that honor with 30 goals and a team-high 21 assists for 51 points.
- Tom Haller, Aaron Maslow, and Tyler Borko all have 22 points. Haller has scored 17 goals, while Maslow and Borko follow with 12 and 11 goals, respectively.
- Coby Petau is another Tiger with 11 goals, and Brad Hale rounds out the top seven double-digit performers with 10. This duo mentioned each have 17 points, and then an eighth member of the squad has produced points in double-digits. Chris Brower is that assister with 12 contributing towards his 16 points.
- Andrew Harwood has made 117 saves in 659:25 minutes played between the pipes.
- Dallas is 0-4 in the all-time series.
- The most recent game these squads met on the pitch was last season in Irving, where Colorado College prevailed 17-2.
- Early had one of the team's goals and tied a team-best five shots.
- Davie did make three goals for one of the quartet of hat tricks. Harrison Raine and Chris Brower tied a team-most four goals apiece.
- The last time these team played in Colorado Springs was Apr. 7, 2013.