Four-Goal Third Period Propels Scots to 12-9 Comeback Win over Otterbein

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team outscored Otterbein University 7-3 in the second half, including 4-1 in the third period, to come back from a one-goal halftime deficit and earn a 12-9 victory over the visiting Cardinals on Wednesday night at John P. Papp Stadium in Wooster, Ohio and stay undefeated at home through four games this season.

Junior Alexander Bloom finished with five goals on six shots, including the first two and final two of the night for the Scots (6-5, 2-0 North Coast Athletic Conference) as the junior midfielder tied his season-high in both points and goals.

In what was a back-and-forth, fast-paced match for most of the duration, neither team found the ability early on to pull away as a three-goal margin was the largest seen all night.

After an opening goal from Otterbein's (3-6, 1-0 OAC) Jake Grundey, Bloom responded with two of his own as part of a 4-0 Scots' run, one off the stick of senior Josh Herold and the other coming from the helpful hands of classmate Sam Kuhn less than a minute later.

Junior Ian Brim brought the lead to three – an advantage Wooster would not regain until the opening seconds of the fourth quarter – with an unassisted tally at the 11:47 mark in the second period before CJ Polak added Wooster's fourth straight tally just over a minute later from the handles of first-year Cullen Kuhn.

Just as momentum shifted Wooster's way, Otterbein came back, netting five of the next six goals to close the half as Herold split what would have been a 5-0 Cardinals' run with his 19th goal of the season with 2:50 left in the half.

Down 6-5 to start the third, consecutive goals from senior Matt Parmelee, Bloom and Brim brought the Scots' lead back to two (8-6) with 8:27 left in the period.

After Otterbein's Connor Dziewit halved the deficit at the 6:49 mark, Parmelee connected on a near-impossible angle, receiving a pass from Polak before taking a delayed rip on-target over the shoulders of both the approaching defender and the goalkeeper to make it a 9-7 game.

Polak extended the lead to three 30 ticks into the fourth period on a man-up opportunity, before two tallies from both Mike Brendle of Otterbein and Bloom offset a late comeback attempt from the Cardinals, as Wooster prevailed 12-9 in comeback fashion.

The Scots outshot Otterbein 14-5 in the third quarter and 43-40 overall, while corralling 28 groundballs compared to the Cardinals' 22. First-year 'keeper Wesley Wagner came through in the clutch on multiple occasions before finishing with 16 saves, three shy of his season high.

Junior Jack Gilio topped the groundball department with a game-high six and in the faceoff category, junior Erik Barroso went 8-for-14 while first-year Luke Liljenstolpe finished 3-for-5. Speaking of first-years, Noah Plotkin totaled a team-high three caused turnovers.

Polak finished with four groundballs while both Cullen Kuhn and sophomore Ethan Scully grabbed three.

Up next, Wooster travels to Oberlin College (4-5, 0-2 NCAC) on Saturday, April 1 for a 1 p.m. start time.