BETHANY, West Virginia – The Wilmington College men's lacrosse team fell to Bethany College 13-11 in the 2019 season-opener for both teams on Sunday afternoon.
Bethany, which came into the game winless against Wilmington all-time (0-3), scored the game's first three goals including two off the stick of Nicholas Melita. Trailing by three not five minutes into the game, the Fightin' Quakers rallied to tie it as Jadon Flannery found the back of the net twice. Zac Chucta, who assisted on one of Flannery's goals, took a pass from Mike Smith and tied the game 3-3 at the 6:45 mark of the first quarter. The Bison would enter the second period up a goal, however, as Tristan Shaffer scored 34 seconds later.
An Andrew Miller goal less than 30 seconds into the second quarter tied the game, but consecutive goals from Bethany that followed put the hosts on top 6-4. The Quakers had the answer, ending the half on a 4-0 run including a hat trick from Connor Judge and an unassisted goal from Miller.
Bethany opened the third by scoring three consecutive goals, though Miller completed his hat trick and tied the game 9-9 after 45 minutes. The fourth quarter saw Bethany leading by a goal on three occasions with Wilmington being able to answer two of those deficits. Ultimately, Will Gatling netted two goals with Bethany a man down in the final 90 seconds to lift the Bison to a win.
Wilmington held a 44-37 advantage in ground balls as well as winning 18-of-28 faceoffs while Bethany took eight more shots (49-41). Andrew Smith earned the win saving 12-of-23 shots while Reed Beavers dipped to 0-1 after making 10 saves.
Individually, Judge scored four goals on six shots for Wilmington while Miller scored a hat trick. Flannery and Chutca both netted two goals while Mike Smith grabbed a team-high 10 ground balls.
Gatling led Bethany with six goals on 10 shots on goal.
Wilmington (0-1) will return to Williams Stadium for a two-game home stand beginning with Wabash College on Wednesday and ending with Earlham College in the Quaker Bowl Rivalry on Saturday.
