COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's lacrosse team's offense continues to hum at a historic pace – and the Bears are still unblemished because of it.
Sophomore Peter DeSimone (four goals) joined juniors Lou Harrison (three goals, one assist) and Gerard Brown (three goals) with hat tricks, and freshman Bobby McClure dished out three assists to power No. 14 Ursinus (5-0) to a 15-10 victory over visiting Elizabethtown on a chilly Sunday afternoon. Ursinus is off to its best start to a season since winning its first seven games in 2010, and the Bears have netted at least ten goals in five straight contests to begin a season for the first time in program history.
With the Bears bombing away on attack, a pair of (relatively) new contributors gave the home side a lift. Senior Steve Palo finished 12-for-20 at the faceoff X and collected a career-high seven ground balls, and junior defenseman Brett Wojtkowiak caused two turnovers to supplement a strong effort from freshman Noah Frantz (four ground balls, three caused turnovers) on the back line.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, each team leading multiple times before a closing run by Ursinus gave the hosts a glimmer of separation. DeSimone's goal in close put the Bears up 2-1 just over five minutes in, and Brown's snipe from the tightest of windows – a rocket to the top right corner of the net from the left wing – staked them out to a 3-2 edge with 1:52 left in the period.
Back came the Blue Jays (4-2), who went ahead 4-3 on Cody Larkin's marker less than a minute into the second quarter. Ursinus rattled off four unanswered from there, starting with Harrison's bullet from 15 yards out at the 13:10 mark. Freshman Reagan Ketchum (two goals, two assists) sent a bouncer past Elizabethtown goalie Brandon Calle off a beautiful cross-crease find from McClure to five the Bears the lead for good with 10:44 left in the opening half.
DeSimone got a shot to trickle in for a man-up goal, and added another in transition from senior Matthew Cioeta to run the advantage to 7-4 with 2:42 to go. The Blue Jays got one from Phil Kyger with 44.9 ticks showing to get within two at the break.
Elizabethtown made a run early in the third quarter, with goals from Mike Specht and Jason Clough trimming the Ursinus lead to 8-7 at the 9:30 mark. Then came a patented scoring spree from the Bears, who reeled off six in a row to put the contest well out of reach.
Brown kicked off the game-sealing burst with his second of the day, and DeSimone followed with a bouncing blast that made it 10-7. McClure extended the lead to four with a highlight-reel finish, scooping up the ground ball off a rebound save and quickly sending a behind-the-back effort into the back of the net. Harrison completed his second straight hat trick with 59.5 seconds left in the frame, and freshman Nolan Sachs tacked on his second of the year, converting a perfect pass from Ketchum at the left post for a 13-7 upper hand going into the fourth.
Ketchum's spin move and subsequent shot into the bottom of the net polished off the run, and Brown completed his first hat trick of the season with 6:35 remaining.
Mike Specht tallied three goals and an assist for the Blue Jays, who got two goals and a helper from Clough. Calle finished with nine saves, and back-up Tom Mahoney had four in the final 13 minutes.
McClure registered his fourth game with at least three assists, including one to a wide-open Joe Donnelly after intercepting Calle's attempted clear that gave the Bears a 9-7 lead just over a minute into the fourth. McClure added five ground balls, matching Sachs and DeSimone.
Sophomore Elliott Shevitz collected 11 saves in improving to 3-0 on the year.
Brown's three points left him one shy of becoming the ninth player in program history to reach 100 for his career.
The men's lacrosse team is back at home against Eastern on Wednesday, March 15. Faceoff is set for 7:00 p.m. under the lights.