ST, PAUL, Minn. – The rest versus rust debate is one of sports' most heavily-debated topics. It was fair to question whether the University of Northwestern Men's Lacrosse team would be able to sustain the momentum it earned from a 15-5 win at Midland University after a nine-day layoff before Saturday's home game against Marian University. The Eagles erased any doubt, however, piling on the Sabres early and often en route to a 21-5 battering at Reynolds Field.
UNW drew first blood just 3:30 into the game when
Austin Lemke (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Saint Croix Lutheran Academy) found the back of the net. Marian evened the score two minutes later, but an avalanche of Northwestern offense, and specifically
Khoa Vu (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee), put the home team in front for good. Vu scored three times in the opening quarter, two assisted by
Ryan Adkins (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) and one by
Christian Mitchell (Oak Grove, Minn./PACT Charter School), to give UNW a 4-1 lead after 15 minutes of play.
Lemke opened the second quarter the same way he did the first—with an unassisted goal. Vu then pivoted from scorer to distributor, assisting on three consecutive goals to put Northwestern ahead, 8-1. The first two of those goals were scored by
Brenden Schuffenhauer (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) and the third by
Sam Moses (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East). With 3:13 left in the first half, Mitchell decided it was his turn to take over. The sophomore attackman caged three shots before the half (the final one with just seven seconds remaining) to extend UNW's lead to double digits at 11-1. Lemke, Adkins and Vu assisted on the three goals to close the half.
Marian got on the board early in the third quarter, but Mitchell stayed hot, scoring off a Lemke pass at the 8:20 mark. Adkins found the back of the net just over a minute later and UNW took a 13-2 lead into the fourth quarter. There wasn't much doubt at that point, but Northwestern made sure not to leave even the smallest sliver as the final stanza began.
Lemke picked up his third assist on another Moses goal just 1:39 into the quarter, then Vu found Mitchell for his fifth assist and Mitchell's fifth goal. The Sabres tacked one on with 11:04 left to make it 15-3, but Adkins grabbed the ensuing face-off and went coast-to-coast to push the lead back to 13. Just six seconds later, Lemke completed his hat trick off yet another Vu assist. If you blinked, you missed the third UNW goal in 28 seconds as Mitchell found Adkins for a man-up score to pull ahead 18-3.
The Eagles finally showed some mercy and waited nearly five minutes before their sixth goal of the fourth quarter, as Lemke tallied another assist on Adkins's hat trick finish. Mitchell then scored his sixth and seventh goal, both assisted by Vu (his seventh and eighth assist), to stretch the lead to 21-3. The Sabres scored twice in the final 1:23, including one as time expired, to make the final score 21-5 in favor of Northwestern and give the Eagles their second consecutive win.
The stat sheet was plenty full for UNW, who out-shot Marian 56-29 (36-12 on goal) and won 22 of 30 face-offs. Mitchell scored an astounding seven goals and dished out two assists, while Adkins scored four times and tallied three assists, in addition to winning 20 out of 27 face-offs. Vu finished with three goals and a whopping eight assists, and Lemke was no slouch either, scoring three goals, dropping four dimes and snagging four ground balls. Schuffenhauer and Moses each added two goals. Defensively,
Eli Olmscheid (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) and
Jakob Montesi (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen) led the way with a pair of caused turnovers each. Montesi also tied for the team lead in ground balls with five.
Robert McHenry (Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong), who also collected five ground balls, made seven saves in cage and picked up the win.
Northwestern will take to the road once more on Wednesday for a non-conference game with MLC foe Northland College. Face-off is scheduled for 3:00 PM in Ashland.
