Statesmen Drub North Central in First-Ever Home Game
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s lacrosse team gave its fanbase a glimpse of the future Saturday, and the future looks fun and bright as the Statesmen defeated North Central (Minn.) 29-5 in non-conference play.
In the first home game in its history, WPU (1-1) cruised to the victory, outshooting the Rams (0-1) by a 69-22 tally at Statesmen Community Stadium.
The hosts were slow out of the gate as NCU scored first just 4:30 into the matchup, but the navy and gold answered with a goal by Ashton Johnson (Fr., Oregon City, Ore., General Accounting), while Patrick Brown (Fr., Herriman, Utah, Software Engineering) tacked on consecutive goals within a minute of each other. Ryan Epps (Fr., Portland, Ore., Mechanical Engineering) concluded the run of four unanswered tallies.
North Central cut the margin to two late in the opening quarter, but that was the closest the visiting crew would come as Epps closed out the period with a score in the final minute.
The Statesmen, who outshot the Rams 23-3 in the first stanza, quickly fixed their efficiency issues, going off for 10 scores in the second. Brown was good for four tallies, while Epps and Brady Treloar (Fr., Portland, Ore., Business Management) added a pair each. Dylan Gerber (Fr., Logan, Utah, Business Management) and Carter Lucas (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn., Mechanical Engineering) also contributed in the quarter as the advantage ballooned to 15-3 at halftime.
WPU was even better out of the locker room, putting 11 of its 20 attempts into the netting. Treloar paced the effort with three goals, while Epps and Max Standage (Fr., Phoenix, Ariz., Business Management) both managed two goals. Lucas, Gerber, Johnson, and Dylan Anzalone (Fr., Omaha, Neb., Mechanical Engineering) celebrated scoring one goal as well.
With the sizeable margin on the scoreboard, both head coaches agreed to a running clock for the final period. With limited opportunities, William Penn added just three more tallies, including one each by Johnson, Treloar, and Jose Merced (Fr., Amsterdam, N.Y., Sociology).
The trio of Treloar, Epps, and Brown all topped the goal-scoring list with six each, while Johnson was next with three. Lucas, Standage, and Gerber finished the victory with two scores apiece as well.
Treloar also had a part of six other goals by producing the assist, while Brown recorded four helpers. Gerber (3), Epps (2), Lucas (2), and Johnson (2) were also credited with multiple assists Saturday.
Eric Garigan (Fr., Tucson, Ariz., Political Science) got stronger as the afternoon wore on, posting seven saves on 12 shots on goal faced.
Ryan Swarts (Fr., Boise, Idaho, Industrial Technology) set the tone for William Penn by winning 20 of his 29 face-off attempts. Jake Rodriquez (Fr., Phoenix, Ariz., Biology) was also strong with five win in six tries.
The Statesmen not only shot the ball well, but also worked hard to corral loose balls with a 49-8 edge in ground balls. WPU did unfortunately have one negative as it had to overcome a 19-17 mark in turnovers.
“First and foremost, we are really proud of the work the team put in to earn this victory,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “It is a great feeling to achieve this milestone and now we can turn our attention to the next goal.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Williamsburg, Ky. next Sunday to face #4 Cumberlands in non-conference play at 3 p.m.
