WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College men's lacrosse team was near-even with Heidelberg University in shots, but the Student Princes made the most of their chances in a 16-6 victory over the Fightin' Quakers in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener for both teams on a snowy Saturday afternoon at Williams Stadium.
Heidelberg (1-7, 1-0 OAC) scored two goals in the first two-plus minutes and looked to break the game open by netting a third off the stick of Jaydon Septer at the 7:07 mark of the first quarter. Wilmington got on the scoreboard less than a minute later, however, as Brock Fugate found Austin Young for a goal. Less than 30 seconds later, Garrett Murrell scored unassisted. Alex Bruder scored his first of several goals on the day, but Justen Shaw ended the quarter with an unassisted goal to pull WC within 4-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Just like the first quarter, the Student Princes scored the first two of the period that included a man-up goal from David Weaver, but the Quakers answered with a man-up goal of their own as Austin Young fed a pass to Justen Shaw, who scored his second of the game. Heidelberg scored the final goal of the half to take a 7-4 lead into the locker room.
Wilmington, which began the third quarter up a man due to a Heidelberg penalty, scored 16 seconds in as Fugate fed a pass to Austin Young, who netted his second of the game. Unfortunately for the Quakers, the Student Princes would score eight unanswered goals that included four-straight from Bruder, to put the game away. Young did complete the hat trick, in the fourth period off a pass from Austin Bondurant.
Heidelberg held a 43-36 edge in total shots including a 32-17 margin in shots on goal. Both teams failed just three clears, but the Student Princes won 20-of-24 face-offs. Cian Howery won his first game of the season, making 11 saves while Cody Everly tallied 16 saves on 32 shots and dipped to 2-7 on the year.
Young had three goals on four shots on goal for Wilmington while Shaw took 11 shots and grabbed three ground balls. Bruder led the way for Heidelberg with eight goals on 11 shots on goal while Septer, who won every face-off for the Student Princes, grabbed 15 ground balls.
Wilmington (2-7, 0-1 OAC) heads to Ohio Northern University on Wednesday evening.
