One-Sided Second Period Curbs Wooster’s Chances in 14-7 Defeat to Ninth-Ranked Ohio Wesleyan

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team held a brief first-period lead over ninth-ranked Ohio Wesleyan University and matched the Battling Bishops throughout the second half, but a lopsided second period allowed the nationally-ranked visitors to ultimately come out of John P. Papp Stadium with a 14-7 win on Saturday afternoon as part of "Senior Day" for the Fighting Scots.

After a game-opening goal from Ohio Wesleyan's Jack Jeschke just over a minute into the first period, Wooster (8-7, 4-4 North Coast Athletic Conference) responded with back-to-back tallies from sophomore Cullen Kuhn and senior Sam Kuhn to take a 2-1 lead with 11:37 left in the first.

Jeschke scored his second of the game nearly a minute later to level the score before Max Tennant and Luke Leyden added respective goals as part of a 3-0 Bishops' run. Sam Kuhn stopped the bleeding on another unassisted goal with 5:49 remaining with an off-balanced shot just inside the far post to draw the Scots within one before the Bishops added one late to end the period up 5-3.

The elder Kuhn struck again in the second period after nearly eight minutes of scoreless play to make it a 5-4 game with 9:16 left in the half. From there, Ohio Wesleyan (14-2, 8-0 NCAC) went on a penalty-fueled 6-0 run, as four of their six second-period goals came on man-up opportunities.

Both teams went pound-for-pound in the second half, with neither team scoring consecutive goals and each side totaling three goals over the final 30 minutes.

Jeschke netted his third of the game with 5:08 remaining in the third period before first-year Shaun Peirce answered with his first of the game and 32nd of the season. Notably, Peirce's 32 goals mark the highest total by a first-year since Mark Weschler ('09) scored 34 in 2006.

In the fourth quarter, the Scots ended "Senior Day" fittingly with goals from Sam Kuhn and classmate Alexander Bloom. Notably, with a team-high four goals on the day and 41 for the season, Kuhn ended his career with the seventh-most single-season goals in program history, just a week after becoming the seventh player in program history to surpass the 100 career goals mark.

On the defensive end, with three groundballs on the afternoon, senior Jack Gilio became the first player in program history to hold three of the program's top-10 single-season groundball totals. Gilio finished with 64 on the year, following totals of 77 (2017) and 89 (2016) in the two seasons prior. Junior Ethan Scully scooped up a co-team-high three groundballs on the day, followed by a pair each from seniors Ryan Harms and Noah Parker.

In goal, sophomore 'keeper Wesley Wagner totaled a season-high 18 saves, while Wooster ended the year at .500 or better in NCAC play for the third straight season.