Wagner's Crease-to-Crease Goal Sets Tone Early as Scots Top Oberlin 19-11.

WOOSTER, Ohio – Sophomore goalkeeper Wesley Wagner set the tone early with his first career goal less than five minutes in as The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team rode 16 first-half goals en route to a 19-11 victory over Oberlin College on Friday night at John P. Papp Stadium.

Despite the "throwback" jerseys donned by the Black & Gold, the Fighting Scots were full-steam ahead from the opening whistle on Friday, starting with respective unassisted tallies from senior Alexander Bloom and junior Joe Altieri less than three minutes in.

As for the highlight of the night, Wagner, who found himself with space in his own defensive zone after an Oberlin (5-5, 0-3 North Coast Athletic Conference) turnover, turned on the jets and sprinted from crease to crease down the center of the field, splitting each layer of defense before firing it into the back of the net for his first career goal.

First-year Ted Wells contributed his third goal of the season to give Wooster (7-3, 3-0 NCAC) a 4-0 lead with 8:45 remaining in the first.

After a goal from Oberlin's Will Prangley broke the drought, brothers Cullen Kuhn and Sam Kuhn went back-to-back less than 20 seconds apart to make it a 6-1 Scots' lead.

Wooster scored six of the next seven goals stretching into the second period to take a commanding 12-2 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the half.

Oberlin leading scorer Steve Kelleher converted on a man-up opportunity before teammate John Sutherland cut the deficit to eight at the 7:25 mark in the second period.

From there, Wooster scored four goals from four different players – Desmond Hughes, Sam Kuhn, Luke Liljenstolpe, and Aidan Crowe – to go up 16-4 at the break.

The Yeomen outscored Wooster 3-1 in the third period, with Sam Kuhn netting his team-high fourth goal just over two minutes in.

In the fourth, Wooster found tallies from Bloom and first-year Jack Redick. Notably, Redick's goal – a collegiate first – came on only his second shot of the season after having made five prior appearances this year.

The Scots forced seven turnovers, led by a pair from both senior Jack Gilio and junior Ethan Scully, while Scully picked up a team-high four groundballs. As a team, Friday's win marked the third straight season in which Wooster has opened conference play with a 3-0 record, led by last year's program-best 5-0 start.

Oberlin won the faceoff battle 21-12, in part by violations, while Wooster outshot the Yeomen 47-36. In goal, Wagner finished the game with a season-high 12 saves.

Up next, Wooster hosts Kenyon College (6-3, 2-1 NCAC) on Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m.