ST. PAUL, Minn. – As late as Friday afternoon, the status of Saturday's Men's Lacrosse game between the University of Northwestern and William Penn University was still up in the air after a Thursday night snowfall. While the snow did, indeed, melt enough for the game to go on as scheduled, it was still tough sledding for Northwestern, whose three-game winning streak came to an end. The 8-1 Statesmen took control early and never let up, picking up a 19-3 win at Reynolds Field on a sunny but brisk Saturday afternoon.
Ryan Adkins (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) scored the first goal for Northwestern to even the score at one with 12:56 left in the first, but William Penn would end the first quarter with a 7-1 advantage. WPU tacked on six more in the second to make the lead a commanding 13-1 with one half to play.
The Statesmen scored the first two goals of the third quarter to extend their lead to 15-1, but UNW found a spark mid-way through the period. Koha Vu scored with 6:16 left, then Adkins found
Christian Mitchell (Oak Grove, Minn./PACT Charter School) for a man-up goal with 2:51 on the clock to make it 15-3. Unfortunately, that would be the final goal the Eagles would get as WPU would tack on four more to win, 19-3.
Adkins was terrific on both ends for UNW. Not only did he score a goal and log an assist, but he also won 16 of 23 faceoffs and collected 14 ground balls. Vu and Mitchell continued their strong play with one goal apiece as well.
Eli Olmscheid (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) and
Austin Lemke (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Saint Croix Lutheran Academy) finished with three and two ground balls, respectively, while
Jakob Montesi (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen) tallied two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Sam Moses (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) caused two turnovers as well.
Robert McHenry (Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) made a game-high 15 saves in cage.
The loss drops the Eagles to 3-3 on the season. They will begin Midwest Lacrosse Conference play next Saturday at the University of Dubuque. Faceoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM in Dubuque.
