COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – A fast start powered the Ursinus Men's Lacrosse team to a dominant 17-5 win over Washington College on Wednesday night at Patterson Field in their Centennial Conference opener.
With the win, the Bears improved to 4-4 overall and 1-0 in Centennial action after returning from their bye week. Meanwhile, the Shoremen fell to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Ursinus made an opening statement in the first seven seconds of the game as junior Tyler Neal ripped his first goal of the game after freshman Riley Yee found him quickly following a clean win on the opening faceoff. The Bears kept the fast pace going just 51 seconds later as sophomore Joshua Toth recorded his first collegiate goal off a quick clear led by first-year Ryan Dever. Ursinus killed off a pair of penalties over the next five minutes and junior Jeremy Calabro added to the Bears lead at the 6:36-mark with his first goal of the game after classmate Erik Ojert found him in front of the center of the crease. Junior Chase Rondeau continued the Bears early run with a goal after sophomore goalkeeper Jonathan Singer found him wide open in the middle of the field on a clear. The play was made possible after sophomore Ben Schroeder corralled a highly contested ground ball behind the net from a blocked shot and rolled the ball to Singer. Senior Tommy Reinhart capped off the Bears first quarter by scoring the team's fifth goal on a turnaround shot from 15 yards out. The Shoremen cut into the Bears lead by scoring the first two goals of the second quarter to make it a 5-2 game, but Erik Ojert ended the run just 10 seconds later after Yee quickly got him the ball from a faceoff win much like the opening goal of the game. Junior Tyler Falco added to the Ursinus lead just 49 seconds later when Neal found him in front of the crease for an easy catch-and-shoot opportunity, making it 7-2. The Bears stalwart effort on defense kept the Shoremen from making a run at their lead and it was punctuated at the 3:26-mark of the second quarter when Calabro picked off a pass from the Shoremen goalkeeper in front of the crease before putting it in the back of the net, bringing the score to 8-2.
The Shoremen tallied the first goal of the second half at the 8:04-mark of the third quarter to make it an 8-3 game, but Erik Ojert responded for Ursinus just 24 seconds later as he made it 9-3 after smacking the ball out of a Shoremen defender that picked up the initial ground ball from a faceoff win. Sophomore Brett Wilkinson got in on the scoring for the Bears at the 6:30-mark of the third quarter to make it a 10-3 game with a deep shot from 15 yards out. Neal countered a Shoremen goal at the 2:19-mark of the third quarter to bring the score to 11-4 and junior Jake Ojert extended the Bears advantage to 12-4 just 40 seconds into the fourth quarter with his first goal of the game. Falco notched his second goal of the game at the 10:48-mark to make it a 13-4 game before Neal brought the Bears lead to double-digits to the first time of the game at the 9:09-mark with his third. After the Shoremen ended the run at the 6:31-mark, Erik Ojert completed a hat trick on a man-down situation and Neal followed with his fourth and final goal of the game at the 4:04-mark to bring the score to 16-5. Sophomore Scott Sloan put the finishing touches on the Bears win with his first collegiate goal with just 1:28 left in regulation.
Ursinus held a sizable 52-32 advantage in shots and a 26-17 edge in shots on goal. The Bears held a 40-30 edge in ground balls and a slight 13-11 advantage in faceoff wins. Singer earned the win after making 10 saves in the full 60 minutes, while Shoremen goalkeeper Ryan Leahy suffered the loss after starting and making four saves in the first 21:27 before being pulled. Robert Eigenrauch made five saves for Washington College in the final 38:33. Neal led the Bears offense with six points behind four goals and two assists while Erik Ojert recorded four points on three goals and one assist. 10 different Bears scored in the contest.
The Bears return to action on Saturday, April 2nd as they will host Muhlenberg in Centennial Conference action at 3 p.m.