Tom Herold

Nate Weltman

Nate Weltman scored twice and assisted on another goal and The College of Wooster defense shut down Kenyon College during a decisive fourth quarter, as the Fighting Scots took a big step toward gaining a spot in the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament with a 7-4 road victory Wednesday afternoon at Gambier, Ohio.

Tied 4-4 fairly deep into the fourth quarter, Weltman took a feed from Josh Herold, positioned behind the net, and quickly went low to beat the 'keeper for what turned out to be the game-winner with 5:52 remaining.

Not satisfied with the one-goal advantage, Wooster (10-4, 3-3 NCAC) won the ensuing face-off, with Patrick Edson controlling the groundball. While the Fighting Scots did not convert on that possession, they quickly came up with a turnover on the other end and John Michael Bogusz successfully brought the ball back into the offensive zone, where the Herold-to-Weltman combo worked again for a 6-4 advantage at the 3:25 mark.

Weltman helped finish off Kenyon (8-6, 3-3 NCAC), assisting a Tom Herold score with 2:05 left, and the Scots moved into a tie for fourth-place in the league standings with one regular season game on tap. The top-four regular season finishers advance to the postseason tournament.

While Weltman was the fourth quarter hero, Tom Herold was involved in Wooster's first four scores. He had two goals in the second quarter, the first a man-up opportunity off a pass from Pat McKay, then assisted on tallies by Weltman and CJ Polak during the third, which allowed the Scots to enter the fourth knotted at four.

In addition to Tom Herold's (3 goals, 2 assists) and Weltman's (3 goals, 1 assist) offensive exploits, goalie Matt Magoon played a key role in the win with eight saves.

The Scots will host Oberlin College (7-6, 2-4 NCAC) in their regular season finale Saturday night at John P. Papp Stadium.