Christiansen Breaks Goals Record as Statesmen Win ‘Snow’ Game

Oskaloosa–Wyatt Christensen (Fr., Madison, Wis., Biology) destroyed a school record and the Statesmen men’s lacrosse team weathered a torrential snowstorm as it cruised past Madonna 17-6 in non-conference play Saturday.

In its second-straight battle against a team receiving national votes, WPU (6-4) outshot the Crusaders (2-1) 50-27, including a 14-3 edge in the first quarter.

Christensen had an unprecedented start to the game, scoring four goals in the first six minutes of action, including two unassisted tallies. His other two goals came off passes from Boston Romero (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) and Breck Putzier (So., Minneapolis, Minn., Kinesiology).

Romero then got going with a goal that was assisted by Eli Dillon (Jr., Portland, Ore., Business Management) before Christensen added three more goals, one unassisted and two via help from Putzier.

Jeff Kohl (Fr., Gilbert, Ariz., Business Management) closed out an immaculate first quarter for the hosts by scoring off a pass from Christensen as the Statesmen led 9-0 after 15 minutes.

The visiting team finally got on the board at the start the second period, but Christensen responded with back-to-back unassisted goals. With 17 seconds remaining in the period, Kenny Bohney (Fr., Moorhead, Minn.,) also found the back of the net with an unassisted goal as the Statesmen led 12-1 at intermission.

The wet and heavy snow, which came down the strongest in the second and third quarters, eventually made for a very slushy and slow field. That may have helped the Crusaders in the second half as they played even with the navy and gold after the break.

MU tallied two early goals in the third period, but the Statesmen defense stiffened and then Putzier got one score back with just 14 seconds left.

Although the contest was virtually locked up, Madonna kept fighting and claimed back-to-back scores to start the fourth to get within eight at 13-5.

Goals from Christensen, off an assist from Tim Pennington (Jr., Boise, Idaho, Biology), Bohney, and also Dillon put the game away, though, while Max Taylor (So., Minneapolis, Minn., Business Management) concluded the scoring in the final two minutes of regulation.

At game’s end, Christensen had produced 10 goals, which easily breaks the old single-game school record of six (by several players).

Putzier was next with one goal and three assists, while Romero had one score and two helpers.

In addition to its advantage in shots, the Statesmen also had 33 ground balls, compared to just 19 for Madonna. The hosts were successful in all 11 of their clearing attempts as well.

William Penn also controlled the faceoff circle by winning 18 of its 25 chances; Ryan Swarts (Jr., Boise, Idaho, Industrial Technology) was 14-for-18 on the afternoon.

Goalkeeper Eric Garigan (Jr., Tucson, Ariz., Political Science) managed seven saves in the victory.

“Slow starts have really hindered us in big games this year.,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “Today, we saw that we are capable of dominating good teams when we start out hot. Overall, this was a great team win that we can use to continue to prepare for conference play.”

Next Up: William Penn will remain in Oskaloosa next Saturday to take on Lawrence Tech (Mich.) in non-conference action at 2 p.m.

Posted by on Mar 11 2023. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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