After High-Scoring Start, Offense Fades as Archrival Wittenberg Tops Wooster 13-7 on “Senior Day”

WOOSTER, Ohio – Accomplishments appropriate for "Senior Day" highlighted The College of Wooster men's lacrosse outing against Wittenberg University as each of the three active seniors posted at least one point each, but a dominating 7-1 second-half run by the Tigers dictated the score as the Fighting Scots ultimately fell 13-7 on Saturday afternoon at John P. Papp Stadium.

With two goals and four assists, senior Josh Herold  moved into a tie for third-place all-time in the program's career assists category with 96.

Meanwhile, senior CJ Polak ended the contest with two goals while classmate Matt Parmelee, whose 49 points is the seventh-most by a Scot in a single season, posted an assist.

Crucial to the Tigers' win was the battle at midfield, as Wittenberg (8-5, 5-2 North Coast Athletic Conference) was 16-for-24 on faceoffs.

Early on, however, things were looking bright for the Scots. After an opening goal from Witt's leading scorer, Zach Shy, nearly six minutes into the game, Wooster (9-7, 5-2 NCAC) answered with four straight of their own.

In proper "Senior Day" fashion, Polak opened with a first-period brace, with both tallies coming less than two minutes apart and both from the helping hands of Herold, who shortly after gave junior Nathaniel Miller the assist to make it a 3-1 lead with 3:36 remaining in the first period. Less than two minutes later, Miller doubled down with his second goal of the game off the assist from classmate Ian Brim to make it a 4-1 Scots' advantage heading into the second period.

The Tigers flipped the script in the second period, outscoring the Scots 4-1 to make it a 5-5 game at halftime.

Witt tied it up at four each behind a 3-0 run nearly midway point of the second before junior Sam Kuhn brought the Scots back ahead off the assist from Herold. But a period-closing goal from Shy and a second-half opener from David Strahm gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 6-5 with 13:20 left in the third.

A senior connection between Herold and Matt Parmelee – with Herold netting the goal – brought the scoreline even, but a game-closing 7-1 run put a lid on the Scots' chances.

First-year Noah Plotkin and sophomore Ethan Scully finished with three caused turnovers each, while Scully and junior Jack Gilio led the squad with five and four groundballs, respectively. Worth noting is Gilio, who became the third player all-time in program history to surpass the 200-groundball mark, as the junior ranks third with 202. Alum Max Rubin holds the top mark with 268 career groundballs.

Up next, Wooster takes on Ohio Wesleyan University (8-4, 5-0 NCAC) on Saturday, April 22 at Delaware, Ohio as part of the final regular season game of the season.