Second Half Push Sends Scots to Win at Oberlin, 11-10

OBERLIN, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team had its closest margin of victory on the season after an 11-10 win over Oberlin College in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday.

Wooster, winners of three of their last four, trailed 8-6 at halftime before tying it up at the end of three and pulling ahead in the fourth.

Drake Nickolaison and Cullen Kuhn each scored a team-high three goals to lead the Scots. Nickolaison gave Wooster a needed burst to start the third quarter, scoring off an assist from Joe Altieri.

Oberlin answered almost a minute later, but Kuhn scored his second goal of the game to make it 9-8. With 5:21 left in the third, Jack Redick found Ted Wells who knotted the game at nine.

In the fourth, Kuhn put the Scots ahead with 9:38 remaining, giving Wooster its first lead since they led 3-2 at the end of the first. Nickolaison then found Shaun Peirce with 4:59 left in the game to put Wooster up 11-9. Oberlin's final score came with 10 seconds remaining.

Wooster started the game with a 3-1 lead, but Oberlin scored four unanswered goals in a span between the first and second quarters that saw them outscore the Scots 6-1. Towards the end of the second, Wooster and Kuhn benefitted from a man-up situation, and Nickolaison later scored to conclude the half.

Altieri and Peirce each tallied two assists. Joe Citera and Max Livingston led the Scots with four ground balls each.

Wesley Wagner made 11 saves on 21 shots on goal against him. Wooster outshot Oberlin 56-33.

Oberlin won 18-of-25 faceoff attempts but split with Wooster in the final stanza. Wooster was better in clearing attempts, succeeding in 20-of-23 tries to Oberlin's 16-of-24 attempts.

The Scots improve to 6-9 overall and 4-2 in the NCAC. Oberlin drops to 4-10 overall and 1-6 in conference play.

Wooster has two games left in the regular season. They travel to Kenyon College (10-5, 5-2 NCAC) on Tuesday, which should be a battle for third place in the conference.