UNIVERSITY HTS., Ohio – The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team dropped its season lid-lifter 21-4 at John Carroll University on Wednesday evening at Don Shula Stadium.
Wooster's (0-1) youth-filled squad was quickly put to the test by John Carroll (1-0), a program among the region's finest, evidenced by five consecutive NCAA Div. III Championships berths. John Carroll broke the game open with an 11-goal second period.
Sophomore Vinny DiLeo, who led the North Coast Athletic Conference with 27 assists a season ago, played a more featured role as a scoring threat in Wednesday's contest. He snuck around the crease from behind the net to deposit Wooster's first goal of the year at the 7:10 mark of the first quarter. In the third, it was déjà vu for the biology major, only this time he beat John Carroll's 'keeper to the top right of the goal instead of the lower right quadrant. DiLeo capped his hat trick at the 12:35 mark of the fourth quarter when none of the Blue Streak defenders in the vicinity picked up the attackman as he came around from behind goal.
Sophomore Charlie Ballou scored Wooster's other goal on the night.
When Wooster did get faceoff wins, the Fighting Scots' faceoff specialists were at the center of groundball wins. First-year Rory Zahren went 6-of-12 on faceoffs and had a co-team-best four groundballs. Sophomore Jimmy Fisher matched Zahren in the groundball department and went 6-of-14 on faceoffs.
Elsewhere, sophomore Casey Steffen was credited with three groundballs and two caused turnovers. Other Scots with three groundballs included first-year Bill Holtzer and junior Adam Meyer, who had a team-leading six saves.
John Carroll's Matt Berdysiak's six goals led all scorers, as did Brendan Whitty's five assists. Cam Cecere won seven groundballs while going 15-for-25 on faceoffs.
John Carroll outshot Wooster 47-28 and won the groundball battle 26-23. Wooster went 13-of-17 on clears, while John Carroll came in at 12-of-15.
Next, Wooster hosts Otterbein University (0-1) on Saturday, February 26 at 1 p.m.
photo courtesy of Aislyn McQueen, John Carroll University