PHOTOS
*Story by Andy Riesenberg
WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College mens lacrosse team opened its 2020 campaign with a 10-7 victory over Bethany College at Williams Stadium on Thursday evening.
Andrew Miller, a senior from Plain City, Ohio, kicked off the season with consecutive goals less than 30 seconds of each other. A third goal would come from Jadon Flannery, also a senior mid-fielder, at the 9:55 mark in the first quarter, giving the Quakers a quick 3-0 advantage. Flannery would commit a penalty with one minute remaining in the quarter, however, and Bethany's Aarin Burton would take advantage of the man-up opportunity by scoring the Bison's first goal of the season. Wilmington wasted no time answering as Connor Judge quickly capitalized on a turnover with just 30 seconds left in the first, putting his team up 4-1.
A fourth senior added a fifth goal in the second quarter as Zac Chuta scores in a man-up situation as a result of a slashing call against Bethany. The rest of the half went back and forth as both teams try to regain control of the game. Bethany's Aarin Burton would bounce one past the Quaker keeper with just 36 seconds left in the half, making it 5-2 heading to the break.
Bethany would come out strong in the second half scoring two in a row and cutting the Fightin' Quaker lead to only one. The tempo was pushed by both sides for the remaining five minutes in the third. This proved to be advantage for Wilmington as Miller netted two more along with Zac Chucta entering the scoring column to preserve the now 8-6 advantage.
The Fighting Quakers went on to score two more times in the fourth quarter off the sticks of Garrett Murrell and Flannery to seal the win.
Overall, Wilmington held a 55-27 edge in shots and won the ground game by picking up 32 of 55 ground balls. The Quakers also controlled the turnovers as Bethany gave the ball up 23 times and Wilmington only 15.
"It was a great team win tonight as we had a multiple players step up and make big time plays, Head Men's Lacrosse Coach Jeff Arneson said. "I'm very happy with the teams performance, effort and determination tonight."
The men's lacrosse team is back in action again this Saturday, February 29, as they take on Anderson at home in Williams Stadium.
