Statesmen Score 25 Unanswered to Smash MVC
Marshall, Mo.–The William Penn men’s lacrosse team shook off a slow start and then thoroughly dominated the remainder of the contest in a 25-4 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference win over Missouri Valley Wednesday.
Having played less than 24 hours earlier, WPU (7-4, 3-3 KCAC) may have been working out some sore muscles in the early minutes as the Vikings scored the game’s first four goals to lead 4-0 with 5:48 still left in the opening quarter.
Incredibly, the contest was turned on its proverbial head at that point as MVC (1-3, 1-3 KCAC) was held off the scoreboard the rest of the night, while the visitors poured it on for a season-high 25 goals.
WPU actually owned an 8-6 edge in shots through the first 11-plus minutes of action, but had nothing to show for it. Nate Blasingame (Fr., Portland, Ore.) changed that by finally getting one into the netting at the 3:17 mark. Exactly 30 seconds later, Tim Pennington (So., Boise, Idaho, Biology) matched his teammate with an unassisted score, but the Statesmen entered the second quarter down 4-2.
Less than three minutes were needed to provide the lone lead change as Seth Read (Fr., Phoenix, Ariz.) and then Blasingame both score unassisted, while Boston Romero (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) produced a goal with the assist credited to Brady Treloar (So., Portland, Ore., Business Management).
WPU’s offense was only beginning to warm up as Romero and Treloar again hooked up and the rout was on. William Penn managed 11 goals in the quarter, including Treloar being a part of next three goals. Breck Putzier (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.) also got past the Viking goalkeeper on three occasions. Marcus Glass (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) figured into the action with an assist as well.
Nine more goals came in the third with Putzier scoring twice and assisting three times. Pennington tossed the ball into the goal three times, while Marcus Davis (Fr., Sacramento, Calif.), Carter Lucas (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn., Mechanical Engineering), and Ryan Epps (So., Portland, Ore., Mechanical Engineering) joined the party with goals.
Eli Dillon (So., Portland, Ore.), who had an assist in the third, tallied a goal in the fourth, as did Collin Baliva (So., St. Louis, Mo.). Daniel McQuade (So., Tucson, Ariz., Political Science) and Ian West (So., Corona, Calif.) helped on scores down the stretch as well.
One night after having 10 goal-scorers against Saint Mary (Kan.), a total of 12 players beat the MVC goalie Wednesday, led by Putzier with five goals in addition to three assists. Pennington scored four times (two assists), while the trio of Blasingame, Romero, and Treloar (three assists) all buried three goals each.
WPU outshot Missouri Valley 65-13 Wednesday, while also owning a 28-5 advantage in faceoff wins and a 28-4 edge in ground balls.
Eric Garigan (So., Tucson, Ariz., Political Science) managed two saves as he entered in the fourth quarter.
“We started off about as poorly as possible, but our response was a good step in the right direction,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “If we can bottle that response a bit, we should be able to really use it as we grow the rest of the season.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Dubuque next Monday to face Clarke in KCAC play at 4 p.m.
