No. 14 W&L Pulls Away Late in Scots' Season Opener

The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team opened its season against the first of several national-caliber opponents on its schedule, Washington and Lee University, which is No. 14 in this week's United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches' poll, and despite holding a one-goal lead late in the second quarter, the Fighting Scots ultimately dropped the non-conference match-up, 9-4, on Tuesday afternoon at Lexington, Va.

The Generals (2-1) went ahead 2-0 midway through the first quarter, but then the Scots (0-1) became the aggressor, as Evan Albertson scored on a feed from Tom Herold to pull them within one. Wooster held a significant advantage in shot attempts in the quarter (12-5), but Washington and Lee withstood the barrage to preserve its 2-1 lead.

The second quarter didn't provide Wooster with as many opportunities, as it produced just two shot attempts – but the Scots made them count. First, Pat McKay corralled a Josh Herold pass and pushed it into the net to knot the score at 2-2. Then with 2:58 to go in the half, Tom Herold scored an unassisted go-ahead goal that gave Wooster a 3-2 advantage.

Goalkeeper Ben Grombala, who was making just his second career start, was dominant in the second quarter, with six of his career-high 11 saves coming during the stanza, but eventually Washington and Lee snuck one by him at the 1:53 mark to make it a 3-3 game at the break.

The Generals opened the third quarter with a pair of goals over the first five minutes of action, with Alex Owen completing a hat trick to give his team a 5-3 cushion. Wooster cut the deficit back down to one, though, when Nate Weltman pumped in his first tally of the young season.

Trailing by just one (5-4) late in the third quarter, the Generals scored twice over a 1:42 span, with one coming during a man-up situation, to push its led to 7-4 entering the final period. Washington and Lee tacked on another two goals in the fourth, and Wooster, despite firing off nine attempts, was unable to get back on the scoreboard.

Overall, Grombala and his counterpart, Wyatt Devine, both made 11 saves in goal.

Other statistical leaders for the Scots were Sean Hohan in groundballs (6), Max Rubin in face-off wins (6), and Dan Gorzynski and Robert Friedhoff with two caused turnovers apiece.

Next, Wooster visits John Carroll University (1-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m.