Strong First Half Propels Statesmen to League Win Over Pride
Dubuque–The William Penn men’s lacrosse team blew out to a big lead and held off a feisty Clarke squad for a 15-6 Heart of America Athletic Conference victory Wednesday.
No. 5 WPU (5-1, 2-0 Heart), which won its fourth game in a row, nearly doubled up the Pride (2-4, 1-2 Heart) in shots at 53-27. Not all was rosy for the visitors, though, as they had to overcome claiming just nine of the 25 faceoffs while also losing the ground ball battle 27-24.
The navy and gold opened the afternoon’s scoring in the fifth minute when Everett Breniser (So., Centennial, Colo., Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) hit the netting off a pass from Max Barr (Jr., West Des Moines, Iowa, Business Management).
Breniser then assisted on WPU’s second goal, a successful shot from Nate Levy (So., Lynwood, Wash., Biology) with 7:08 left in the opening period. Just seven seconds later, Kenny Bohney (Sr., Moorhead, Minn., Exercise Science) got on the board unassisted as well.
Bohney replicated that effort two minutes later, while Breniser, with an assist from Bohney, put the visiting crew on top 5-0 late in the quarter.
CU finally answered with 1:03 remaining, but the Statesmen had the last laugh as Barr (from Bohney) made it 6-1 after the first 15 minutes of action.
Bryce Campbell (Sr., Meridian, Idaho, Kinesiology) then took matters into his own hands. The senior, who won only nine of his 20 faceoffs, opened the second stanza with a win at the line. Immediately streaking to the goal, Campbell padded William Penn’s lead with an unassisted tally just seven seconds into the quarter.
Harley Williams (Sr., Edmonton, Alberta, Political Science) eventually made his presence felt with a pair of goals, both of which were assisted by Bohney. Bohney guided the offense with four goals and four assists.
Blake Cyboron (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Industrial Technology) and Lucas Cox (Fr., Memphis, Tenn., Kinesiology) closed out the half with back-to-back unassisted goals for an 11-2 Statesmen edge at the break.
The Statesmen were in control throughout, but the Pride did not simply roll over, matching WPU goal-for-goal during the final 30 minutes until the final buzzer sounded. Bohney produced two goals after the break as the navy and gold took the convincing road win.
Breniser had a hand in four William Penn goals (two goals, two assists), while Cyboron, Levy, and Williams beat the Clarke goalkeeper twice as well. Barr and Cyboron also distributed the ball once each on Wednesday.
In regards to ball control, the Statesmen committed just 25 turnovers, compared to CU’s 35. WPU was also sensational in clears at 27-for-29, while limiting the Pride to a 11-for-15 performance.
Cox paced WPU with seven ground balls, while Nolan Soller (Fr., Owatonna, Minn., Industrial Technology) headlined the defense with five caused turnovers. Connor Russell (Sr., Grand Haven, Mich., Applied Computer Science) (four) and Quinn (three) were responsible for numerous caused turnovers as well.
Russell served well as the last line of defense as he stopped eight shots.
“We played a great first half, but we were too complacent in the second half,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “Once we learn to execute a full 60 minutes, we can do some good things as a team.”
