WPU Claims Two Wins in Michigan

Brighton, Mich./Dearborn, Mich.–The Statesmen men’s lacrosse team thumped one foe and a day later earned its first nail-biter of the season as it remains perfect this season.

William Penn (3-0) defeated Cleary 23-2 Friday and then held off Michigan-Dearborn 7-5 Saturday to stay unblemished.

WPU 23, Cleary 2

Boston Romero (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) and Nate Blasingame (Fr., Portland, Ore.) did much of the damage in the early going as at least one of them had a part in William Penn’s first seven goals. The navy and goal thoroughly dominated the opening quarter, leading 10-0 with a 29-0 advantage in shots after the first 15 minutes of action.

Romero had four goals with one assist in the period, while Blasingame assisted four times and scored once as well.

Blasingame added two more goals with two more assists in the second stanza as the advantage grew to 15-2. Cleary finally got on the board at the 12:04 mark, but the Statesmen remained in full control.

The reserves kept the pressure on after halftime, outscoring their foes 8-0 with a 16-1 edge in shot attempts. Daniel McQuade (So., Tucson, Ariz., Political Science), who had one goal with two assists in the first half, added another two helpers with a score in the third quarter.

Max Taylor (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.) played a big role following intermission with two goals and four assists.

When the final horn sounded, the Statesmen had completely owned the contest, including posting a 61-5 edge in shots, a 49-16 margin in ground balls, and a 19-8 mark in faceoff wins. WPU also committed just 14 turnovers, compared to 31 by Cleary.

Blasingame led the way with four goals and six assists, while Romero matched him in goals in addition to assisting three times as well.

Taylor notched three goals and four assists, while McQuade had a part in six scores (two goals, four assists).

Collin Baliva (So., St. Louis, Mo.) contributed three goals, and Breck Putzier (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.) tallied two scores and one help.

Andreas Bramscher (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.) earned the win in front of the net, allowing two goals in the opening half, while Eric Garigan (So., Tucson, Ariz., Political Science) posted a clean sheet in the latter 30 minutes; both players recorded one save.

WPU 7, Michigan-Dearborn 5

Facing its first adversity of the season, the Statesmen showed poise, holding off a strong push from its opponent to complete the weekend sweep.

Although it was outshot 45-43 overall, William Penn had the superior goalkeeper as Jeremy Smith (Sr., Camano Island, Wash., Sociology) was incredible in the net with 18 saves.

Tim Pennington (So., Boise, Idaho, Biology), with an assist from Romero, got the visitors on the board first at the 5:59 mark of the opening quarter. It was the lone score in the first stanza.

Marcus Glass (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) then doubled the advantage 4:34 into the second period, but UM-D answered with back-to-back scores. Fortunately, the Statesmen closed out the quarter on a flurry with scores by Putzier (assisted by Romer) and Glass (assisted by Blasingame) in the final 90 seconds for a 4-2 halftime lead.

Putzier and Romero managed to extend the Statesmen margin with unassisted goals in the third quarter. Pennington, with an assist from Blasingame, then put a bow on the win with one final score with 49 ticks left in regulation.

The trio of Pennington, Glass, and Putzier all placed two shots into the netting, while Romero (one goal) and Blasingame were the distributors with two assists each.

The proverbial game ball, however, certainly went to Smith, who was a wall, allowing just the five goals on 23 shots on goal.

The Statesmen were slightly better in faceoff wins (8-7), but had to overcome a bit of sloppy play with 18 turnovers (13 for UM-D).

“Getting to 3-0 is a great stepping stone for our young program,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “There are a lot of great takeaways from this weekend, particularly overcoming adversity to get the win on a day when everything seems to be going wrong.”

Next Up: Weather permitting, William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Wednesday for its home opener against Quincy at 4 p.m.