Fourth-Quarter Surge Allows Wooster to Double Up Alma, 14-7

WOOSTER, Ohio – A dominant fourth quarter, during which The College of Wooster scored six unanswered goals, turned a closely-contested game into a decisive 14-7 victory over Alma College in a Wednesday night non-conference men's lacrosse contest at John P. Papp Stadium.

Holding an 8-7 lead, Wooster (6-2) began its fourth-quarter surge by taking advantage of a two-minute, non-releasable penalty assessed to Alma (5-2). The home team scored two extra-man goals, first Ian Brim firing in a long shot from the right win, with an assist up top from CJ Polak, and then Matt Parmelee converting a point-blank attempt, fed to him by Josh Herold.

Three minutes later, Wooster extended its advantage to 11-7 when freshman long-stick midfielder Brooks Kiley forced a turnover in Alma's defensive half and found Sam Kuhn in transition, with the latter finding the back of the net. It was Kiley's first collegiate assist.

As the clock ticked under five minutes, Wooster scored two quick goals. Alexander Bloom netted one, then emerged with the groundball on the ensuing face-off and quickly found senior long-pole Dan Gorzynski, who scored for the first time this season.

Aidan Crowe made it a 6-0 fourth quarter with an unassisted tally at the 1:41 mark, and on the other end, Aaron Levy continued to keep Alma off the scoreboard with some nifty stick work. The senior goalie made four of his 15 saves for the game during the final four minutes, including on a couple of point-blank shots.

Early on, Alma opened up a 3-1 lead. Wooster responded with a four-goal run, spanning the first and second quarters, with Crowe and Nate Weltman proving two apiece during that stretch.

Wooster never trailed again, however, Alma did tie it up 6-6 early in the third quarter. Goals by Bloom and Herold allowed the hosts go back up by two, part of an overall 8-1 run to end the game.

Crowe and Weltman each recorded hat tricks, while Herold assisted on three goals plus scored the one. Also with multi-point outings were Bloom (2 goals, 1 assist), Ian Brim (1 goal, 1 assist), and Polak (2 assists).

For Alma, Austin Irrer was part of four of its seven scores with three goals and a helper, and Tanner Diment stood out by winning 12-of-18 face-offs and collecting seven groundballs.

Next, Wooster returns to North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon at Hiram College (1-5, 0-1 NCAC).