Wooster's 10-Goal First-Period Outburst Sets Tone During 24-13 Win Over Hiram

Senior Sam Kuhn and first-year Shaun Peirce scored six goals each, and The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team's offense erupted for a 10-goal first period as part of a 24-13 win over Hiram College on Saturday afternoon at Henry Field in Hiram, Ohio.

Wooster (6-3, 2-0 North Coast Athletic Conference) peppered Hiram (4-4, 0-2 NCAC) with 20 shot attempts during the first-period outburst. Senior Alexander Bloom tucked home the game's first goal at the 11:54 mark, and Hiram's Tim Stucky tied the game at one on a quick transition goal after the ensuing faceoff.

Wooster regrouped with Perice scooping up a loose groundball after senior Desmond Hughes' shot attempt was turned aside by Terrier 'keeper Keagan Finegan and stuffed the ball into the back of the net for the first of seven unanswered Scot goals.

Just over a minute later, the Scots' depth was on full display with rookie Ted Wells setting up a clean look for sophomore Luke Liljenstolpe, who finished at the 10:15 mark. Wooster needed just six ticks to tack on another score, with Kuhn burying the transition shot after a quick faceoff win to make it 4-1.

In fact, Kuhn's tally was the first of three straight by Wooster's leading scorer, but three other Scots etched their names into the scoring column by period's end as Wooster's 10 goals were spread out among seven student-athletes.

Wooster's senior class kept the mojo rolling to open the second period with Kuhn and Hughes (2) scoring the Scots' first three goals of the stanza. Later, Peirce snuck his third goal of the game in just before halftime to bump the lead out to 14-8.

The Scots extended the lead to nine with three unanswered goals to start the third period, including Peirce's and Kuhn's fourth and fifth goals of the game respectively. Near the end of the stanza, senior Ryan Harms tallied his first collegiate goal to make it 18-11. Harms' mark in the scoring column led to a 6-0 run that was capped by Peirce's and Kuhn's sixth goals of the game.

Not to be overshadowed was the outstanding play of rookie Connor Mangan, who scooped up a season-high 12 groundballs – all on faceoffs – and helped Wooster nearly double up Hiram in faceoff wins. In fact, Mangan's already logged 55 groundballs in nine games, and that's seven shy of a top-10 single-season program mark for a stat that's been kept officially by the NCAA since the 1999 season.

Peirce added four assists to give him a game-high 10 points on the afternoon, a total two-shy of matching the single-game program record.

Wooster's 24 goals marked the most since the Scots also had 24 against Washington & Jefferson College on March 20, 2017.

Stucky led Hiram with five goals and two assists.

Wooster, in search of its third straight 3-0 start in league play, squares off against Oberlin College (5-3, 0-2 NCAC) at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 30 at John P. Papp Stadium.