William Penn Puts Pieces Together in Upset of #9 Concordia (Mich.)

Oskaloosa–The Statesmen men’s lacrosse team was victorious for the first time at home Monday, defeating #9 Concordia (Mich.) 16-8 in non-conference action.

WPU (4-3), which broke its three-game losing streak, earned a signature win by upsetting the Cardinals (0-3) and keeping them winless on the campaign. It is the program’s first home win over a ranked team.

Playing against their fourth-straight program that was ranked or receiving votes, the navy and gold overcame being outshot 47-43. They did so by holding a 15-12 advantage in faceoffs, a 23-15 edge in ground balls, and by committing just 12 turnovers (19 for CUAA).

Ryan Epps (So., Portland, Ore., Mechanical Engineering) opened up the scoring, taking a ball from Breck Putzier (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.) and depositing it in the netting just 91 seconds into the afternoon.

The Cardinals answered back two minutes later, but then Putzier and Boston Romero (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) put WPU ahead for good with back-to-back unassisted goals. Putzier added one more goal with 36 seconds left in the quarter, with help from Romeo, to make it 4-2 at the end of the first period.

Putzier again scored unassisted, while Romero fed Brady Treloar (So., Portland, Ore., Business Management) for a 6-2 Statesmen advantage. Nate Blasingame (Fr., Portland, Ore.) got into the mix with an unassisted tally, while Eli Dillon (So., Portland, Ore.) was helped by Putzier to make it 8-3.

Ryan Swarts (So., Boise, Idaho, Industrial Technology) won the following faceoff and rushed to the goal for a 9-3 advantage at intermission.

Tim Pennington (So., Boise, Idaho, Biology), with an assist from Putzier, got the hosts off on the right foot to start the third quarter, while Romero (unassisted) and Blasingame (assist from Treloar) extended the margin to nine as the Statesmen capped a 6-0 run.

The Cardinals closed the gap with four of the next five goals to make it 13-7 in favor the home squad, but WPU was never really threatened. William Penn solidified its standing down the stretch as Romero and Putzier got past the CUAA goalkeeper unassisted, while Pennington hooked up with Blasingame in the final minute of play.

Putzier was the team’s top offensive star with four goals and three assists, while Romero was a part of five scores (three goals, two assists). Treloar was also effective with one tally and two helpers.

Jeremy Smith (Sr., Camano Island, Wash., Sociology) kept the visitors at bay for the most part, posting 15 saves in the victory.

“Notching our first home win of the year over a ranked opponent is another great milestone for our program,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “We have been able to build off our last few games and today we put some of those pieces together. We will continue to look for opportunities to grow as a team as we enter the meat of our conference schedule.”

Next Up: William Penn will remain in Oskaloosa Friday, hosting #7 Benedictine in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play at 4 p.m.