John Carroll Holds Back Fast-Paced Wooster Offense in Road Tilt

The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team traveled to University Heights, Ohio, to take on John Carroll University, as the Fighting Scots fell 11-6 to the Blue Streaks on Saturday afternoon at Don Shula Stadium.

Wooster (0-2) trailed 2-0 early on after a pair of unassisted tallies from John Carroll's Skyler Blake and Michael Hubert within the opening four minutes. Junior attacker Sam Kuhn halved the deficit with 7:30 remaining in the opening quarter with a solo effort of his own, but the Blue Streaks (2-1) responded, capping the quarter with four unanswered goals – two off the stick of Connor Pike, who finished with a game-high three goals.

At 6:02 in the second quarter, senior Josh Herold got on the scoreboard with an unassisted tally, converting from close range after a deft spin move near the crease. Just over two minutes later, John Carroll's Blake scored his second of the game to give the Blue Streaks a 7-2 lead at the half.

In the third, goals from Pike and Declan O'Grady bookended a tally from Wooster junior Alexander Bloom as the Scots trailed, 9-3, heading into the fourth.

Unable to mount a comeback, Wooster and John Carroll matched each other's fourth-period scoring with two goals apiece. The Scots' Ian Brim made it a 9-4 game just under the 10-minute mark, while C.J. Polak capped the game's scoring with a tally off the assist from Sam Kuhn with 47 seconds left to play.

Statistically, junior Jack Gilio and sophomore Ethan Scully co-led the Scots in groundballs (4) while the duo finished with four and three caused turnovers respectively.

Wooster was 6-for-20 on faceoffs while winning the turnover battle, 18-22. The Blue Streaks outshot the Scots, 38-30. Junior goalkeeper Tyler LaCroix and first-year Wesley Wagner each tallied four saves between the pipes, nearly splitting the playing time.

The Scots return to action against Capital University (2-0) on March 8 at 7 p.m.