Sam Kuhn

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team had a strong first half, and withstood a late surge by visiting John Carroll University, to claim a 12-11 win in its home opener on Saturday afternoon at John P. Papp Stadium.

Wooster (2-0) used a five-goal swing over a span of 5:21 to open up an 8-1 lead with 3:05 left in the first half. All of the Scots' offensive weapons were on display during the stretch as five different players found the back of the net during the surge.

First, Sam Kuhn buried his first goal of the day with 7:11 left in the frame. Next, Josh Herold gained some separation, and buried a nice sliding goal, which at the time put Wooster up 5-1 with 4:08 left in the half. The Scots would get contributions from CJ Polak, Nate Weltman, and Aidan Crowe also during the run.

John Carroll (1-2) made its charge late with Declan O'Grady scoring four unanswered by himself as part of his game-high five scores. However, the Blue Streaks were thwarted with 35 ticks left when Ethan Scully came up with a critical caused turnover, and combined with teammates to run out the clock.

Wooster had a strong start to the contest with a trio of first period scores that were highlighted by a pair of assists off the stick of Matt Parmelee. Wooster, which never trailed, was held to three second-half goals, with Kuhn's at the 10:57 mark of the fourth period being the difference.

Wooster's defense was equally as impressive on the afternoon as the Scots recorded 18 caused turnovers, with six players recording at least two. The Scots forced 32 turnovers on the day, and held the Blue Streaks to 12-of-26 on clear attempts.

Offensively, Kuhn led the Scots with five points on three assists and two goals. Weltman played a big role, too, turning in his second hat trick in a row.

Aaron Levy came through with 10 saves in goal.

Of note, this was just the third meeting in the all-time series, as John Carroll is a third-year program. Wooster has emerged victorious in one-goal thrillers all three times, via an 8-7 count at Papp Stadium in double overtime two years ago, and an 11-10 win at John Carroll last year.

Wooster returns to action with a 1 p.m. tilt on March 5 at Washington & Jefferson College (1-2).