ST. PAUL, Minn. – The vibes were, as the kids say, immaculate at Reynolds Field on Saturday, as the University of Northwestern Men's Lacrosse team played its final home game. Before the game action even began, there was plenty of celebrating. Nine graduating players (
Ryan Adkins (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville),
Richard Hemric III (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial),
Brenden Schuffenhauer (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial),
Jared Schultz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial),
Alex Vereide (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna),
Sam Moses (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East),
Jakob Montesi (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen),
Austin Lemke (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Saint Croix Lutheran Academy) and
Robert McHenry (Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong)) were honored for their career achievements, in addition to head coach
Jay Mayes being recognized for becoming the program's all-time winningest coach last month. When the game itself began, the celebrations continued for Northwestern, who blasted Northland College 16-0 to set itself up nicely to clinch a berth in the upcoming Midwest Lacrosse Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament.
Christian Mitchell (Oak Grove, Minn./PACT Charter School) wasted no time asserting himself, racking up a hat trick in the first 8:15 of the opening quarter. Senior
Brenden Schuffenhauer (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) assisted on two of those goals and
Austin Lemke (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Saint Croix Lutheran Academy) on the other.
Khoa Vu (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) scored with 2:57 left in the period off an assist from
Tyler Heyen (Big Lake, Minn./Big Lake) to give UNW a 4-0 advantage with one quarter complete.
The second quarter could best be described as a goal parade for the Eagles, as they put up eight more scores to take a double-digit lead into the half.
Sam Moses (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) was first, scoring just 1:09 into the period, then Lemke and Mitchell reversed roles from their earlier hookup to make it 6-0, Eagles. Moses assisted on Vu's second goal with 7:13 left, then Lemke dished out a pair of assists, one to Schuffenhauer and one to Mitchell, extend the lead to 9-0. Just 26 seconds later, Heyen found the back of the cage, then Northwestern really put on a show in the final 15 seconds. Mitchell scored his fifth goal of the day off yet another Lemke assist, then Lemke scored with one second remaining before half, courtesy of a
Dominic Atkins (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) assist, to make it 12-0 UNW at the break.
The scoring died down in the final 30 minutes, as the only third quarter goal came from the pocket of
Jack Yokom (Blaine, Minn./Totino-Grace). Moses scored a rare man-down goal with 6:46 left in the fourth to push the lead to 15-0, then the game's final goal was perhaps the most memorable of the season. With the clock winding down, Lemke found senior
Alex Vereide (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) sprinting toward the cage with a full head of steam. "Uncle Tony," as his teammates and coaches call him, whipped it past the Northland goalkeeper for his first career goal, on Senior Day no less. As his teammates mobbed him, the crowd chanted "Tony! Tony!" It was the perfect ending to a perfect game, and when the clock hit 0:00, fellow senior
Robert McHenry (Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) pitched his first-career shutout and was swarmed by his teammates.
The stats portion of these recaps usually begins with the players who scored the most goals, but it feels fitting to start with the back end this time. McHenry's shutout was no fluke as the backstop made eight saves, many of which were of extreme difficulty.
Jakob Montesi (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen) was terrific on defense as well, grabbing seven ground balls and causing two turnovers. Senior
Jared Schultz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) and
Joseph Kalski (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) each caused a pair of turnovers as well, in addition to three and two ground balls, respectively.
Now, to the offense. Mitchell's six goals included 10 of his 14 shots being on goal, and he also added three ground balls and an assist. Lemke was everywhere, scoring two goals and dishing out five assists. Moses scored twice, assisted twice, and snagged three ground balls, while Vu scored a pair of goals himself. Schuffenhauer was terrific on both ends per usual, finishing with one goal, two assists and collecting five ground balls. Heyen, Vereide and Yokom each scored once, and Heyen logged an assist as well. Senior
Ryan Adkins (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) was his usual self, winning 14 of 18 faceoffs and snagging a game-high 10 ground balls.
The dominant win extends Northwestern's winning streak to three and brings it above .500 at 6-5 overall on the season and an even 2-2 in the MLC. The Eagles currently sit in third place in the conference standings, but will not officially know if they are in the MLC Tournament until the conclusion of the Dubuque versus Cornell game, which was postponed from Saturday to Sunday. If Cornell were to upset Dubuque, there would be a three-way tie among the teams for second place and a tiebreaker would determine which two make the tournament and which one doesn't. Stay tuned to unweagles.com and follow @unweagles on social media for more updates.
