Statesmen Claim Share of First Conference Crown
Atchison, Kan.–The William Penn men’s lacrosse team made history Saturday as it defeated Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Benedictine 16-7 to claim a share of its first league title.
In a contest that featured two Heart unbeatens, WPU (11-5, 4-0 Heart) lost the faceoff battle 15-10, but made up for it by outshooting BC (7-5, 2-1 Heart) 45-31 to net the top seed in the league tournament in two weeks. The Statesmen, in just their fourth year of existence, will seek to win the Heart crown outright next Saturday as they host Missouri Valley at 2 p.m.
The home team got on the board just 17 seconds into the contest, but back-to-back goals from Max Taylor (So., Minneapolis, Minn., Business Management) (assisted by Breck Putzier (So., Minneapolis, Minn., Kinesiology)) and Wyatt Christensen (Fr., Madison, Wis., Biology) gave the navy and gold a 2-1 lead. The Ravens responded with two goals of their own before Taylor again found the back of the net off an assist from Collin Baliva (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Mechanical Engineering) to tie the game at 3-3 at quarter’s end.
The second quarter was almost entirely in WPU’s favor, beginning with a goal from Boston Romero (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) (assist to Putzier). The Ravens countered with a goal of their own, but William Penn closed out the period by rattling off six consecutive goals. Tim Pennington (Jr., Boise, Idaho, Biology) got things started, while Romero put away the next two goals for his squad. Taylor then scored yet again with help by Pennington.
Brady Treloar (Jr., Portland, Ore., Business Management) got in on the action off a pass from Putzier, before Putzier ended the stanza with an unassisted goal as the Statesmen went into intermission with a 10-4 lead.
WPU kept the scoring coming in the third quarter with back-to-back goals from Putzier and Pennington. Benedictine, however, was finally able to put a stop to its scoring drought with a goal, but William Penn countered as Treloar beat the BC goalkeeper with help from Taylor. BC closed out strong with two goals to close within six at 13-7 entering the final 15 minutes of play.
The navy and gold made sure no miraculous rally was recorded as they tallied three more goals down the stretch, while keeping the Ravens scoreless in the final period. Unassisted goals from Putzier and Christensen started the quarter, while Marcus Davis (So., Sacramento, Calif., New Media) also managed a goal with an assist credited to Taylor.
Taylor led the way for William Penn with four goals along with two helpers, while Putzier was next with three goals and five assists. Romero also finished with three goals, and Pennington and Treloar produced finished with two goals each.
Eric Garigan (Jr., Tucson, Ariz., Political Science) tallied 13 saves in the victory.
“The guys showed a lot of grit overcoming a variety of adversity to put together a full game” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “One of the best things we’ve done this season is get better every week win or lose. This week was no different and we’ll look to continue that trend heading into the playoffs.”
