Julie Kendall
Sports Editor
Faced with cold and snowy conditions for their season opener last Saturday, the Wooster men’s lacrosse team turned up the heat at John P. Papp Stadium, crushing Albion College 14-1. The overwhelming victory revealed the depth of talent found in the young Scots team, most of whom were playing for the first time at the collegiate level.
Four first-years set the tone for Wooster’s offensive dominance early in the game. In just the first four minutes of action, Pat Henderson ’15 put up two goals, while Mike Perrino ’15 and PJ Dallman ’15 scored one each. Max Rubin ’15 went 5-for-5 on face-offs in the first period, helping to keep Wooster continuously in possession. Rubin would continue to win every face-off he played in the game, giving the Scots a 13-19 advantage on face-off possessions.
Albion’s only goal of the game came halfway through the first period when the Briton’s Tim Urso found the back of the net over goal keeper Matt Magoon ’14.
From that point on, the Scots steadily put points on the scoreboard while keeping their opponents off of it. Wooster racked up an 8-1 halftime advantage with two goals each from Eric Johnson ’12 and Tom Herold ’15.
Wooster continued to amplify the scoring gap after halftime, posting five more points in the third period, including two unassisted goals from Jake Bernard ’14. They eased up in the fourth period, making only five goal attempts, which produced a relatively paltry one additional point. Five of the Scots’ six second-half goals were earned unassisted.
The majority of Wooster’s success against the Britons came from the talent of the team’s newcomers. Of the Scot’s 14 goals, ten were made by first-years, who make up half of the squad’s roster. Attackers Herold and Hendersen were the top scorers with three points each, followed closely by midfielders Perrino, Bernard, and Johnson who each scored two. Although eight of the team’s goals were earned unassisted, Hendersen was responsible for two assists, while Herold, Evan Albertson ’15, Sean Hohan ‘15 and Dallman each recorded one.
Defensive standouts included senior defender Nick Spittle ’12, who picked up six ground balls. Magoon made four saves during his 47 minutes in the goal, while Ethan Flack ’14 recorded 3 saves in his 12 and a half minutes of play.
The Scots hosted Bethany College Wednesday after press time and will travel to Illinois on Saturday to take on Aurora University.