WPU Falls in Close Game in Tennessee
Athens, Tenn.–With little time to recover from the loss to Reinhardt, William Penn men’s lacrosse continued their opening road trip with a stop in the Volunteer State. Tennessee Wesleyan are receiving votes in the opening NAIA coaches’ poll but the Statesmen showed their metal by playing the Bulldogs close the whole game. Despite a valiant effort, the navy and gold came up just short in the comeback attempt, falling by a score of 8-7. The team is now 0-2 on the year.
The start did not favor the Statesmen, as the home side collected the first few shots. Ryan Swarts (Fr., Boise, Idaho, Industrial Technology) lost the opening draw and TWU scored on their first possession, beating starting goalie Jeremy Smith (Sr., Camano Island, Wash., Sociology). The goal woke up the team, as Max Standage (Fr., Phoenix, Ariz., Business Management) then unloaded the first shot for WPU in the contest. Yet it was the Bulldogs who had the momentum, as they snatched a 3-0 leading with six minutes to go.
The third goal sparked something for William Penn, as they soon cut the deficit to one. Carter Lucas (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn., Mechanical Engineering) sizzled one high but it missed the cage. Almost 20 seconds later, Boston Romero (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev., Business) got a pass from Brady Treloar (Fr., Portland, Ore., Business Management) and buried it to make it 3-1. After Swarts forced TWU into a faceoff violation, Treloar found his first on the year as he danced past the defender to make the score 3-2.
WPU outshot the Bulldogs 14-10 in the first quarter but TWU had the last word, scoring with 31 seconds left on the clock to end the first up 4-2.
The second quarter was a grinding 15 minutes, as both teams tenaciously locked down their defensive ends. Ashton Johnson (Fr., Oregon City, Ore., General Accounting) got the first shot away for the Statesmen in the frame but Patrick Demoss, in net for the Bulldogs, was up to the task. Soon after, TWU faced a rapid-fire attack by both Romero and Treloar, who fired three shots away during a strong minute-plus of offensive zone time for the Statesmen. However, each shot missed wide and Tennessee Wesleyan found a clearance to end the danger.
With three minutes to go, Collin Baliva (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) picked up a ground ball and took it into the TWU end, with the ball eventually finding its way to Treloar. Circling around, Treloar fired away and scored his second of the game, cutting the lead to 4-3. Almost 40 seconds later, however, the Bulldogs got one back and went into halftime up 5-3.
At the break, WPU had a 23-20 shot edge but Demoss had eight saves to Smith’s three for WPU.
The navy and gold won their first quarter of the year as they picked up three goals to keep the game within one. Tim Pennington (Fr., Boise, Idaho, Biology) made it a 5-4 game just about three minutes in. Romero made it 6-5 with 1:57 to go, despite the fact the Statesmen had taken a penalty and were a man down. Once more though, TWU would score late, this time with 26 seconds on the board, to go up 7-5. But Eli Dillon (Fr., Portland, Ore.) came from his midfield position to score with six seconds left, zipping his first goal as a Statesmen past Demoss to make it 7-6 TWU.
The defense held to start the fourth quarter, making a clearance 90 seconds in. A couple shots missed but another turnover by the Bulldogs sprung Baliva back the other way. Twisting and turning, he found a lane a let fly a great shot that beat Demoss to tie the game at 7-7. With a new game at hand and more than 11 minutes to go, both sides prepared for a close finish.
Back and forth the teams would go, with every loose ball fought for intensely. Once more though, the Bulldogs found a way, and with 6:32 remaining, they got one past Smith, taking the lead 8-7.
The Statesmen were able to force a ground ball and come away with a good clearance with under 3:30 left in the game. Treloar finally found an opening but the shot was blocked, with the Bulldogs racing away to the other end after they picked up the ground ball. They would eat out the clock from there, taking the close victory 8-7.
The Statesmen just outshot their hosts 38-37 while each team committed 21 turnovers. The Bulldogs were better in the faceoff and ground ball departments as well. Individually, Romero led the Statesmen with 10 shots, seven of which were on target. Treloar had seven shots with four on target while Baliva was third with five shots, three on. Smith made 13 saves while facing 21 shots on goal, allowing eight goals. Swarts was 6-16 for faceoffs on the day.
“Today’s game is exactly what we needed from this trip,” said Head Coach Luke Christiansen. “With last season being cut short, we didn’t have any of these toss up games that teach a young team how to win. These types of games against veteran squads are vital to our growth as a freshman-laden program and will lead to wins later in the season.”
Next Up: The team will take on Montreat (N.C.) tomorrow, February 6, at 12 p.m.
