Statesmen Thump Columbia in Non-Conference Finale
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s lacrosse team rolled over a former league foe as it defeated Columbia 18-4 in non-conference play Tuesday.
#4 WPU (11-1), which actually only won 11 of the 26 faceoffs, still overpowered the Cougars (2-8) with a 68-16 edge in shots as it extended its school-record winning streak to nine games.
All of the extra shots came in large part due to forcing CC into 38 turnovers (just 23 for WPU). Columbia also only had 16 successful clears in 32 chances, while the navy and gold finished 25-for-29.
In a matchup of programs who were former Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference rivals, the Statesmen jumped out to a 3-0 lead after less than five minutes of play. Wyatt Christensen (So., Madison, Wis., Biology) opened the scoring as he took advantage of WPU have a man-up situation and put away a pass from Breck Putzier (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn., Exercise Science).
Tim Pennington (Sr., Boise, Idaho, Biology) then scored off a Boston Romero (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) assist, while Romero capped the hot start with an unassisted goal of his own.
Columbia finally scored in the sixth minutes of regulation, but the visiting crew never threatened. Christensen (assist to Putzier) and Max Taylor (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn., Business Management) (unassisted) responded, forcing the advantage to 6-2 at the end of the first quarter.
Putzier had a hand in three of the home team’s second-period goals (two goals, one assist), while Kenny Bohney (So., Moorhead, Minn., Exercise Science) started a big evening with help from Putzier. Seth Read (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz., Psychology), via a pass from Romero, also found the netting as William Penn entered intermission with a 10-3 edge.
After two days of consistent rainfall, the turf at Statesmen Community Stadium was quite slick and the field conditions factored into less offensive success than WPU has become accustomed. Still, the navy and gold kept pushing, outscoring the Cougars 5-1 in the third. Bohney beat the CC goalkeeper twice, while Putzier, Pennington, and Romero also scored.
CC closed out the third stanza with a score, but it would serve as its final goal, while the Statesmen, headlined by a pair of tallies by Bohney, tacked on three more goals in the waning 15 minutes of action. Christensen also recorded one last goal.
Bohney recorded a team-high five goals in addition to one assist, while Putzier yet again reached double digits (10) with three goals and seven helpers. Christensen was part of six goals (three goals, three assists), while Romero (three goals, two assists) and Pennington (two goals, one assist) were multiple point-scorers as well.
Collin Baliva (Sr., St. Louis, Mo., Mechanical Engineering) notched six ground balls (WPU won the category 39-24), while Bradley Howell (So., Clearfield, Utah, Psychology) had a huge defensive outing with six caused turnovers. Putzier also caused three CC mistakes, while Noah Braegger (Fr., West Point, Utah, General Accounting) tallied a pair.
Ryan Swarts (Sr., Boise, Idaho, Industrial Technology) won 10 of his 20 faceoff tries, while Eric Garigan (Grad., Tucson, Ariz., Master’s of Organizational Leadership) finished with five saves in a fairly quiet day in front of the cage.
“I am proud of our guys for competing for 60 minutes and putting together a great team win,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “In the past, this is the type of game where we allow the other team to keep it closer than necessary.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Davenport Saturday to face St. Ambrose in Heart of America Athletic Conference play at 11 a.m.
