Schlick Gives Fighting Scots Double-Overtime Victory

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team ended its 2011 season on a positive note when Patrick Schlick scored a goal with 21 seconds remaining in the second overtime to lift the Fighting Scots to a 6-5 North Coast Athletic Conference victory over Kenyon College Saturday on Andrew Turf Field at John P. Papp Stadium.

After the two teams were tied at five at the end of regulation, Wooster (5-9, 2-3 NCAC) owned possession for the majority of the first extra session, including an extra-man opportunity, to no avail.

During the second, the Scots had a couple of golden opportunities right in front of the net, but again could not come up with the winner, and then the momentum shifted to Kenyon (5-9, 1-4 NCAC) as it cleared the ball into Wooster's end. However, the Lords turned the ball over, and with the clock running down, the Scots quickly cleared and Schlick got free about 10 yards out in front of the net and found an opening for his 10th goal of the season to cap the back-and-forth affair.

Early on, defender Bryan McDonald sparked Wooster to a 2-0 lead. A three-year starter as a long stick, McDonald scored the first goal of his career 2:36 into the game, and later in the first quarter, he intercepted a pass and started a transition opportunity that resulted in a Jake Bernard unassisted goal.

Kenyon won the opening face-off of the second period and converted it into a score in just six seconds. That would be the only goal through the rest of the half, as the teams were locked in a defensive battle with the score 2-1 at the break.

The third quarter went to the Lords, as they outshot their hosts 10-5, gaining a 3-2 lead in the process, however, the Scots regained the momentum late. With less than 30 seconds to go, Kenyon turned it over in its own end and Matt Pullara made the visitors pay with an unassisted goal to tie the game.

The scoring picked up in the fourth quarter. First, Mike Lloret netted an early tally to give Wooster the lead, only to see the Lords tie it. Then, Schlick assisted a Nathan Pagniano goal a little more than halfway through for a 5-4 advantage, but Kenyon knotted it back up again about 90 seconds later to set the stage for overtime.

Schlick's game-winner was a nice cap to the careers of Scott Heisler, Bill Hiatt, Jake Kubasta, McDonald, Pat Orr, Pullara, Joe Suliman, Andrew Valeriane, and Graham Zimmerman, who were recognized for "Senior Day" prior to the game.