CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Garyck Todd era got off to a good start for the Wilmington College men's lacrosse team as the Fightin' Quakers downed Mount St. Joseph University (MSJ) 10-6 on the road in the season-opener on Wednesday evening.
"Tonight was purely a team win," said Todd of his first collegiate victory as head coach. "We overcame obstacles with low numbers and tired players. Cody Everly had an outstanding in cage, and our upper classmen led the way on offense exploiting matchups when they were in our favor. We'll enjoy tonight but tomorrow it's time to get ready for Saturday."
The Lions took a 2-0 lead early on, but Justen Shaw got WC on the board after a ground ball pickup and an unassisted goal at the 7:37 mark of the first quarter. Five minutes later, Austin Young scored unassisted to send the game into the second quarter tied 2-2.
Austin Bondurant took over in the second quarter, scoring a goal of his own and setting up Garrett Murrell to give WC a 4-2 lead with 3:41 to play in the half. Young's second of the game less than a minute later put the visitors up 5-2, but the Lions added one just before halftime ended. The hosts would go on to tie it 5-5 early in the third, but Young completed the hat trick with his third goal of the game midway through the third quarter.
The Quakers all but put the game away by scoring the first three goals of the fourth quarter. Shaw scored his second of the game 90 seconds into the quarter while Young netted his fourth a man up off a pass from Vincent Friesinger with 10 minutes to play. Two minutes later, Shaw fed a pass to Murrell to put the Quakers up 9-5. Both teams scored one goal over the final eight minutes.
Wilmington outshot MSJ 41-23 in the game as well as holding a 46-35 edge in ground balls. The Quakers finished 12-of-14 in clear attempts while the Lions were 15-of-18.
Individually, Young scored four goals on eight shots while Shaw also had a hat trick. Agnus Cripe was 6-of-18 in the face-off circle. Cody Everly faced 14 shots and made eight saves to win his first collegiate game.
Mason Meilnger and Cole Mercile had two goals apiece for MSJ in defeat.
Wilmington (1-0) will travel Bethany College (West Virginia) on Saturday.
