Statesmen Post School-Record Sixth Win in a Row, Hit Double-Digit Mark
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s lacrosse team is closing out its regular season on quite a run as it thoroughly handled Missouri Baptist 19-2 in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday.
WPU (10-4, 6-3 KCAC), which has set a new school record with six-consecutive wins, outshot the Spartans 77-16 in a matchup that highlights how far the Statesmen have come in just 13 short months. In their first-ever matchup, the Statesmen fell to MBU 10-7, but then avenged that loss 9-6 on April 17, 2021.
William Penn can continue its progression next Tuesday with its regular-season finale against Columbia, a fellow KCAC program receiving votes nationally. A win over the Cougars is necessary for William Penn to have a chance at hosting the KCAC Quarterfinals next Saturday, April 16.
The visitors needed just 52 seconds to get on the scoreboard Wednesday as Tim Pennington (So., Boise, Idaho, Biology) collected a pass from Breck Putzier (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.) and put it past the Spartan goalkeeper. The rout was on from that point.
Marcus Glass (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Carter Lucas (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn., Mechanical Engineering) then scored unassisted over the next two and a half minutes. Brady Treloar (So., Portland, Ore., Business Management), off a feed from Collin Baliva (So., St. Louis, Mo.), and Putzier, with help from Boston Romero (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management), then tallied goals for a 5-0 advantage at the 4:29 mark of the opening stanza.
Missouri Baptist (3-7, 3-5 KCAC) finally scored with 2:49 on the first-period clock, but Jeremy Smith (Sr., Camano Island, Wash., Sociology) was in the zone all night, recording 10 saves in the victory.
Glass (assist to Putzier) and then Putzier (unassisted) wrapped up an impressive first period with the Statesmen up 7-1.
WPU was only getting warmed up as the second quarter was somehow even better as the visiting crew scored nine more unanswered goals for a 16-1 halftime advantage. Putzier had three of those tallies (twice assisted by Treloar, once by Glass), while the sextet of Pennington, Glass, Lucas, Romero, Eli Dillon (So., Portland, Ore.), and Ryan Swarts (So., Boise, Idaho, Industrial Technology) also bettered the goalkeeper.
Putzier managed to assist three times in the period as part of an 11-point effort (five goals, six assists). His double-digit performance is only the third in program history and the most since William Penn’s inaugural game when Treloar poured in a school-record 12 points versus North Central (Minn.) in 2020.
The Spartans opened a quiet second half with a goal seven minutes in, but the Statesmen produced the final three scores, including two by Glass. The freshman matched Putzier’s team high with five goals in addition to one assist.
Swarts provided the navy and gold with an ever-flowing amount of opportunities as he won 19 of his 22 faceoffs. The ball certainly bounced the visitor’s way with a 42-15 edge in ground balls, while the victors also committed only 14 turnovers, compared to 18 for MBU.
The trio of Lucas, Pennington, and Romero (one assist as well) all finished with two goals, while Treloar had one goal with two assists.
Depth certainly may have played a large role in the win as William Penn was able to use 16 reserves, while the Spartans only utilized two bench personnel.
In the victory, two milestones were reached as Romero tallied his 100th career point, while Swarts managed his 300th faceoff win.
“Reaching double-digit wins in only our second full year is a big accomplishment for the program,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “The team performed well in all phases of the game. We are making strides to where we need to be as we head into the playoffs.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Columbia, Mo. next Tuesday to face Columbia in KCAC action at 4 p.m.
