Defense Shines as Statesmen Hold Off Owls in Low-Scoring Affair
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s lacrosse team held down William Woods for a 10-4 Heart of America Athletic Conference victory Saturday.
In a matchup of two teams undefeated in league action, No. 5 WPU (7-1, 4-0 Heart) outshot the Owls (4-6, 3-1 Heart) by a 55-19 margin.
Despite the disparity in shots, the visitors jumped out to a 2-0 edge, scoring in the sixth minute of the game. WWU then doubled its edge four minutes later, but the Statesmen defense took over from there.
Matt Scott (Fr., Denver, Colo., Sports Management) finally got the hosts on the board with 4:42 left in the opening quarter on an unassisted goal, while Harley Williams (Sr., Edmonton, Alberta, Political Science) knotted the score off an assist from Kenny Bohney (Sr., Moorhead, Minn., Exercise Science) to even the score at 2-2 after one quarter of play.
The second period featured just two tallies with Garrett Katrana (So., Parker, Colo., Industrial Technology) being a part of both. The sophomore, who was back on the field for the first time in over a month (injury), assisted on Williams’ score and then put one in himself with help from Blake Cyboron (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Industrial Technology).
William Penn was never truly in the clear Saturday afternoon, but managed to put plenty of distance between it and William Woods, including holding a 4-1 advantage in scoring in the third.
Williams opened up the second half with a goal that was assisted by Nate Levy (So., Lynwood, Wash., Biology). Scott, via an assist from Everett Breniser (So., Centennial, Colo., Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management), and Lucas Cox (Fr., Memphis, Tenn., Kinesiology) (unassisted) finished off a run of seven unanswered goals before the Owls took advantage of a man-up situation to stop the proverbial bleeding.
Fortunately, Levy closed out the third stanza on a high note for WPU as a pass from Bohney was deposited into the netting for an 8-3 advantage with 15 minutes left to go.
Williams (assisted by Levy) and Cyboron (unassisted) beat the WWU goalkeeper in the fourth quarter as the navy and gold kept the Owls safely in the rearview down the stretch. Williams topped the victors with four goals.
Scott finished with two goals, while Levy posted one score and two assists. Bohney (two assists), Cyboron (one goal, one assist), and Katrana (one goal, one assist) also delivered in a balanced Statesmen attack.
WPU’s defense forced the Owls to commit 34 turnovers (19 for the Statesmen), including six caused turnovers by Cyboron. The hosts limited WWU to an 18-for-32 showing in clears, while the Statesmen were 16-for-19.
The navy and gold won 10 of the 18 faceoffs with Bryce Campbell (Sr., Meridian, Idaho, Kinesiology) finishing 8-for-13. The senior also tallied six ground balls as William Penn finished with a 35-23 edge in ground balls. Bohney and Levy finished with five ground balls as well.
The last line of defense showed up as well with Connor Russell (Sr., Grand Haven, Mich., Applied Computer Science) finishing with five saves.
“This was a great team win, highlighted by a great performance from the defense,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “We have some huge challenges the next few weeks, and I am excited to see how our team responds.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Marshall, Mo. next Tuesday to face Missouri Valley in Heart play at 3 p.m.
