Victory in the Quarterfinals as WPU Tops MBU
Oskaloosa — The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s lacrosse tournament got going Saturday with four games across the bracket. William Penn hit the road to face Missouri Baptist, who won the first meeting of the season 10-7. The Statesmen entered in good form and changed the second stanza against the Spartans in St. Louis, as WPU secured a 9-6 victory to punch their ticket to the semifinals. William Penn is now 9-7 on the season.
With good weather on hand, the game started in favor of the hosts. Just past 90 seconds in, the Spartans beat Jeremy Smith (Sr., Camano Island, Wash., Sociology) on the opening shot to take the lead. However, the squad would not trail for long. After a faceoff win by (Fr., Boise, Idaho, Industrial Technology), the navy and gold got their offense to work. Jon Bell (Fr., Castle Rock, Colorado) would make the final pass to Carter Lucas (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn., Mechanical Engineering), who rocketed his trademark deep-shot into the net to tie the game just 48 seconds ater.
Eli Dillon (Fr., Portland, Ore.) missed a pair of shots wide after another faceoff win for Swarts, but the Statesmen got caught in transition, as MBU scored with 11:22 remaining in the first frame. Caeden Miller (Fr., Bear River, Utah, Digital Communication) blocked the next Spartan shot, which led to a successful clear. Noah George (Fr., Hillsboro, Ore.) rang one off the pipe but he made sure to not repeat the mistake on the next shot, as he converted the pass from Boston Romero (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev., Business) into the second goal of the game for WPU.
Tied at 2-2, the rest of the quarter saw each side gets shots, with the Spartans missing their shots wide. Hunter Filla made four stops over the final four minutes for Missouri Baptist, denying both Romero and Tim Pennington (Fr., Boise, Idaho, Biology). William Penn held a 10-8 shot advantage in the first quarter but the game remained tied heading into the second period.
The Statesmen got the first couple of shots away in the new quarter, with Romero missing the target and Collin Baliva (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) having his shot saved by Filla. Finally gaining possession, the Spartans ran to the other end and potted a goal with 10:31 remaining in the half to take a 3-2 edge. Smith made a couple grade-A stops in the middle stages of the period, as MBU tried to extend the lead.
With Smith standing tall, the defense finally got a clear and the offense took advantage. George scored with 3:46 to go to tie the game at 3-all. Just under a minute later, Ryan Epps (Fr., Portland, Ore., Mechanical Engineering) tossed a heater into the back of the net to give the Statesmen their first lead of the day. The Spartans then punctuated the offensive outburst with a goal of their own with 2:26 to go in the half. While each side had a couple shots as the clock ran down, the game remained deadlocked at 4-4 at halftime.
The shots were even at 18 a side after 30 minutes of action, with the Statesmen owning a 15-7 edge in ground ball pickups. WPU had only four turnovers in the half, with MBU making 11. Smith made two saves for the Statesmen.
Coming out of the break, the navy and gold were gifted a power play just 11 seconds into the third. While the team had not been red hot in man-up situations entering the day, WPU worked the ball around well to get Baliva an open look, and he delivered a cracking good shot to put the team up 5-4. However, the Spartans scored just shy of two minutes later to level the score at 5-5.
The Statesmen responded with a bevy of shots over the next few minutes, as they pinned the Spartans to their defensive end. Filla made two saves and watched five shots zip wide of the goal. He made another stop on Romero and the Spartans were forced to call a timeout to rest some weary legs. The pause worked out well for MBU, who got the next three shots away but none forced Smith to make a stop.
Generating a turnover, William Penn hustled forward and deployed their attacking set. Baliva delivered a fantastic setup for Pennington, who put the team up 6-5 on a thundering shot. As the quarter drew to a close, Brady Treloar (Fr., Portland, Ore., Business Management) forced a turnover and scooped up the loose ball. He drove right towards the net and tossed a bouncer into the twine to put WPU up 7-5 with 1:57 to go in the third. With no other goals in the quarter, the Statesmen ended with a 15-8 shot advantage in the period, as both sides geared up for the fourth.
A shot by Baliva missed the net just a couple minutes into the fourth quarter and led to the Spartans trying to make a clear. Max Standage (Fr., Phoenix, Ariz., Business Management) found the loose ball first though, and he saw that Treloar had been left open. The pass was lovely and the finish was powerful from Treloar, as WPU took an 8-5 lead.
Another failed clearance set up a chance for Dillon and he cashed in to put the team up 9-5 with 10:23 to go. Despite the lead, the navy and gold continued to hammer away at the Spartan net, as the attackers had a great four minutes of attacking play. They put up four shots and saw Filla make three saves, with a Spartan defender stopping another shot en route. Missouri Baptist struggled to move up the field as the period moved along. Smith made one good stop with 4:13 to go in the game but that was his only stop over the final five minutes, with WPU playing a lot in the Missouri Baptist end. The Spartans rallied to get a goal with five seconds remaining in the game but it was too little too late, and WPU took the win 9-6.
William Penn held a 45-30 shot advantage and had 28 shots on goal compared to 12 for MBU. The Statesmen had more ground ball victories (33-17) and won 10 of the 19 faceoffs. Smith made six saves for the game. Treloar and George each had two goals while Dillon paced the lineup with 10 total shots and six shots on goal. George had nine shots and Lucas, Romero, and Baliva each had six shots. Swarts was 10-18 in the faceoff circle.
“Notching our first playoff win is a big milestone for our young program,” said Head Coach Luke Christiansen. “It took a full team effort to earn this one and we’re very excited to go make some noise at the semi-finals.”
Next Up: The KCAC Conference tournament continues as the Statesmen will travel to Columbia to face the Cougars on April 22. CC won handedly over Saint Mary (Kan.) 19-2 but WPU played them hard in the final regular season contest. The winner of that game will face the victor of St. Ambrose vs. Benedictine.
