Winning Streak to Five as William Penn Shuts Out Midland
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen men’s lacrosse team was heavy on the gas on both ends of the field Saturday as it disposed of Midland 20-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play.
No. 5 WPU (6-1, 3-0 Heart), which outshot the Warriors 68-13, claimed its fifth victory in a row. With their second shutout of the spring (also won 29-0 over Ottawa on February 16), it is first time in program history that the Statesmen have posted multiple shutouts in a campaign.
The navy and gold put Midland (2-5, 0-3 Heart) in the rearview right away as Everett Breniser (So., Centennial, Colo., Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) scored off a pass from Nate Levy (So., Lynwood, Wash., Biology) just 79 seconds into the afternoon.
Two minutes later, following a stop on the defensive end, Drew Swanson (Fr., West Des Moines, Iowa, Industrial Technology) hauled in a long pass from Connor Russell (Sr., Grand Haven, Mich., Applied Computer Science) and quickly delivered it to Kenny Bohney (Sr., Moorhead, Minn., Exercise Science) who drove it into the netting.
Bohney then helped Max Barr (Jr., West Des Moines, Iowa, Business Management) with his first score before Matt Scott (Fr., Denver, Colo., Sports Management) punched one in off an assist from Breniser. Breniser eventually closed out the five-score first quarter with help from Barr.
The hosts were slowed a bit in the second period with just four goals. Breniser, whose six goals led the crew, tossed two in during the third quarter (one assist as well), while Bohney scored once and had two helpers.
William Penn’s offense had its best surge in the third stanza with seven scores, paced by Breniser and Scott with two goals apiece. Bohney distributed well with a pair of assists.
The victors kept the pressure on in the final 15 minutes of action with Harley Williams (Sr., Edmonton, Alberta, Political Science) beating the MU goalkeeper on two occasions. Bohney, who ended the day with seven assists, managed to help on two fourth-quarter winners. The senior also scored three times on Saturday.
Scott and Williams both finished with four goals and one assist, while Breniser added two assists to his goal tally. Barr was good for two goals and two assists as well, and Levy ended up with three assists.
Russell and Matt Hollenbaugh (So., Saugus, Calif., Sports Management), who came off the bench and played the entire fourth period, both recorded two saves.
WPU was marginally better in faceoffs at 13-for-24, but had zero issues clearing the ball from its defensive end, going a perfect 28-for-28, while the Warriors were denied advancement on eight of their 23 attempts.
Bryce Campbell (Sr., Meridian, Idaho, Kinesiology) won eight total faceoffs, while Carter Holden (Fr., Idaho Falls, Idaho, Computer Science) was the most efficient specialist, going 5-for-7.
The Statesmen were also better in turnovers, giving the ball back only 20 times (33 for Midland). Five separate William Penn players tallied two caused turnovers to guide the defensive effort.
Additionally, the navy and gold won the ground ball battle 40-30 with Scott posting a team-best seven.
“I am proud of the defense for completing the shutout and the team for a good day of clearing,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “It was a solid day overall to build off as we move into the meat of our conference schedule this coming week.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Marshall, Mo. next Wednesday to face Missouri Valley in Heart play at 4 p.m.
