Third Quarter Rally Comes Up Short for Statesmen, MBU Wins 10-7

Oskaloosa — Having a long break between games, William Penn men’s lacrosse jumped back into the season Saturday as they hosted Missouri Baptist. The Statesmen found themselves in quite the hole at halftime, trailing 6-0. However, the navy and gold charged back in the third, scoring at the buzzer to trail 8-6. Unfortunately, the comeback then faltered and the Spartans survived to win 10-7. The Statesmen are now 2-5 overall and 0-2 in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

William Penn ended up with the first shot of the game as Joshua Bell (Fr., Castle Rock, Colo.) caused a turnover and forced the MBU goalie into a quick save. Brady Treloar (Fr., Portland, Ore., Business Management) then whistled one in on net that forced another save, as WPU looked sharp in the first offensive possession of the game.

Jeremy Smith (Sr., Camano Island, Wash., Sociology) then got busy in goal for the navy and gold, as he had to make a couple saves over the span of four minutes. With the defense unable to catch their breath, the Spartans struck first with just over eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Tim Pennington (Fr., Boise, Idaho, Biology) and Eli Dillon (Fr., Portland, Ore.) each got a shot away in response but both did not hit the target. MBU then poured on five shots in a row, with Smith making one save as the rest played chin music to the cage. The Spartans then punched in their second goal with just 34 seconds left on the clock, taking that momentum into the second frame.

Despite a couple early shots from William Penn, the Spartans soon kept play in their attacking end, scoring four times in the quarter. William Penn once more threw out six shots but the Missouri Baptist goalie stopped them all, as the Statesmen trailed 6-0 after 30 minutes.

WPU was outshot 26-12 in the first half but won four of the eight draws. The navy and gold picked up 13 ground balls and were a perfect 9-9 clearing the ball.

The third period started with Collin Baliva (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) finally getting the navy and gold on the board, as he fired on the move to make it 6-1. With a moment of hope, WPU started to play their game. While the Spartans scored the next goal, William Penn got one back from Noah George (Fr., Hillsboro, Ore.), as he pocketed a goal to make it 7-2.

After the visitors struck again, Boston Romero (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev., Business) fed it to Dillon from behind the net and the shot found the twine, cutting the gap to 8-3 with 6:06 left in the quarter. Almost three minutes later, Romero took a long shot and skipped it home to make it 8-4. Refusing to waste any more time, Dillion then plunked home his second of the day to make it 8-5 just 24 seconds later.

George then played hero as he picked up a lose ball in the attacking end with eight seconds left. Juking left then right, he fired just before the horn sounded to bring WPU within two at 8-6. With the crowd elated and the team in great spirits, the Statesmen looked to ride the wave of positive play into the final quarter.

Baliva almost made it 8-7 in the opening moments but the post denied him the goal. To make matters worse, the Spartans then scored on their next trip down the field to gain a three-goal advantage again.

Carter Lucas (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn., Mechanical Engineering) missed a shot wide with 9:01 left in the game but a few seconds later, he fed Dillon, who shot it in to make it 9-7. But from there, Missouri Baptist ground out the time that was left on top of adding in one final goal. Of the three shots WPU took in the final two minutes, one hit the post and the other two missed, leading to the Spartans holding on for the 10-7 decision.

William Penn was outshot 47-38 in the game, as the navy and gold claimed 26 ground balls and won 13 of the 19 faceoffs in the contest.

Smith made 12 saves while facing 22 shots on goal. His attackers put 17 shots on target and the lineup was led in shots by Dillon and Baliva, who each had nine and five on the mark. Dillon led the team with three goals while George had two. Pennington had five shots on the day as well, while Joshua Bell had six ground ball pickups to lead the team in addition to taking every faceoff.

“Our age shined through today in the form of mental mistakes,” said Head Coach Luke Christiansen. “Missouri Baptist is a veteran and well coached team that made us pay. As a team compromised entirely of freshman, this is bound to happen, but its now on us to learn from the mistakes and not repeat them. All that said, I’m very proud of the way we responded in the second half and we will continue to build towards being the most dangerous team in April.”

Next Up: The team will host Clarke next Saturday, March 20, at 3 p.m.