Scots Soar Past Comets, 14-7

WOOSTER, Ohio – Quick transition goals fueled The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team to a 14-7 win over visiting Capital University on Wednesday evening at John P. Papp Stadium. With the victory, the Fighting Scots are 3-0 for the first time since 2016.

Wooster logged four instances of scoring within 20 seconds of Capital (0-2) coughing up the ball. Junior Vinny DiLeo caused the turnover and earned the groundball on the first occurrence before sophomore Rory Zahren fired in his first of a team-leading four goals on the night. Zahren again was the scorer on Wooster's second transition goal of the clash, and that strike put the Scots up 5-1 just past the second period's midpoint.

In the third, junior Casey Steffen was lurking upfield, and Capital's Austin Yanich lost the ball to the Scots' top defender, who fired in his second career goal moments later. Steffen's strike at the 14:29 mark was followed up by sophomore Colton Beaudoin scoring 59 ticks later, with that transition chance set up by a Steffen caused turnover and groundball. Later, DiLeo found the back of the net for the fourth time this year to put Wooster up 10-2 at the 7:54 mark.

Steffen was the leader of Wooster's defense, which forced 13 turnovers and caused Capital to finish just 13-of-27 on clears. The junior had five caused turnovers and a team-leading seven groundballs on the night. DiLeo was another big reason why the Comets had limited success clearing the ball, with three caused turnovers from his attacking position. He was joined at four groundballs by sophomore Aidan Hyatt, sophomore Anderson Macdonald, and Zahren.

Beaudoin finished behind Zahren with a hat trick in the scoring column, first-year Lane Kellogg had a balanced night with four points, and DiLeo scored twice. Other stats to note included 16 saves by junior Paul Chandler and seven faceoff wins by Zahren.

Capital's Charlie Howenstine and Brenden Pelton scored two goals apiece, Ethan Adkins was the defensive force with four caused turnovers and three groundballs, and Freddy Noday won 13 faceoffs.

Capital outshot Wooster 43-41 and had six more groundballs than the Scots' 41, thanks in part to winning 16-of-24 faceoffs.

Next, Wooster hosts State University of New York Brockport (0-2) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 4.