Photo by Lizz Hadley
Posted: Mar 02, 2022
*Story by Alex Trevino
WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's lacrosse team won its home opener on Wednesday evening, defeating Earlham College by a score of 9-7 to take home the coveted Quaker Bowl!
With the Quaker Bowl on the line, the game got off to a quick start. Sam Sargent got the scoring started with an unassisted goal three minutes into the game giving Earlham an early 1-0 lead. Austin Bondurant and Justen Shaw teamed up to tie the score at 1-1 shortly afterwards. Austin Bondurant added a second goal late in the first quarter with Brock Fugate scoring soon after. Wilmington would head to the second quarter with a 3-1 lead.
Garrett Murrell would charge through the Earlham defense for a goal, assisted by Austin Bondurant, Wilmington's only goal of the second quarter. At the half the score was 4-2. In an incredibly even game, Wilmington and Earlham each shot 16 times in the first half and each won four faceoffs.
Earlham came out strong in the third quarter, outshooting Wilmington 9-6 and outscoring the hosts by one in the period. Justen Shaw took the ball himself and scored an unassisted goal halfway through the third quarter. Austin Bondurant kept his good game going with another goal to end the third quarter. Wilmington enjoyed a 7-5 lead going into the final frame.
Austin Bondurant scored on both sides of the quarter break as he scored his fourth goal of the game early in the final quarter. Earlham continued to battle and cut the deficit to one thanks to a Logan Reihing goal. The score was 7-6 in Wilmington's favor. Wilmington would close the game out strongly. Goals by Austin Bondurant and Garrett Murrell put the game out of reach, and Wilmington secured the Quaker Bowl victory with a final score of 9-7.
Both teams fired 32 shots in the contest with exactly 17 on net. Earlham held slight advantages in ground balls (23-20), face-offs won (11-8) and clears (18-16).
Bondurant continued his torrid start with five goals giving him a season total of seven while Garrett Murrell contributed two goals. Cody Everly wins his second game in goal with 10 saves on 17 shots. Sam Sargent found the back of the net on three occasions for Earlham.
Up next, Wilmington will continue its homestand hosting Franciscan College in Williams Stadium at 1 pm.
