Peirce Surpasses 100 Goals Mark, Scots Run Away From Terriers, 29-1, in NCAC East Opener

Senior Shaun Peirce joined the exclusive College of Wooster men's lacrosse 100-goal club, and the Fighting Scots overwhelmed Hiram College in every facet during the program's North Coast Athletic Conference East Division-opening 29-1 win on Wednesday evening at Charles A. Henry Field in Hiram, Ohio.

Thirteen Scots (1-1, 1-0 NCAC East) etched their name in the scoring column, while in all, 16 Wooster players had a point in the contest. First-year Vinny DiLeo filled the stat sheet with a team-leading nine points, and his seven assists were two shy of Wooster legend Jim Applegate's school record set against Ashland University back in 1985.

As to the margin of victory, it went down as Wooster's biggest win since at least 2002, when the Scots topped Washington & Jefferson College 28-1. Wooster had a shutout going until Hiram's (1-2, 0-1 NCAC East) Brett Johnson's third goal of the season broke up the bid with 6:37 remaining.

DiLeo wasted no time setting his teammates up for success, as the Scots' rookie sensation passed out assists to junior Ben Kennedy and first-year Ben Byars within the first 2:30 of the game, and the Scots' lead ballooned to 9-0 by the end of the first period.

In the second period, Wooster's senior leaders took over at the offensive end. First, Connor Mangan upped his team lead to seven goals. Next, Peirce established the game-high at five, and his fourth goal of the contest marked No. 100 of his career, making him just the eighth player in program history to hit the century mark, and the first since Sam Kuhn (2015-18).

On the flip side, Wooster caused just as much havoc in transition and on the defensive end, with Hiram mustering a 2-of-8 success rate on clears in the opening half, and the Terriers coughed the ball up 15 times, 10 of which came in the second stanza.

Wooster, which led 18-0 at the half, eased off in the second half, with first-year Shane Epstein-Petrullo and classmate Pat Hrabak netting hat tricks over the final 30 minutes.

Byars' four scores backed up Peirce's five, while Mangan gave the Scots five players with hat tricks on the night. Defensively, first-year Casey Steffen's long pole caused fits all night long to the tune of five caused turnovers and five groundballs, while fellow rookie Jimmy Fisher won 18-of-26 faceoffs and scooped up five groundballs.

Sophomore Adam Meyer scored his first win in goal. The statistical and data sciences major turned aside two Hiram shots in his two periods of play.

Wooster outshot Hiram 58-8, including 36-3 in the opening half. The Scots won the groundball battle 30-19 and went 28-of-30 on clear attempts.

Of note, Wooster's 29 goals and 46 points are tied for the seventh-most in a NCAA Div. III game this spring.

The two teams are set to square off again on Saturday, April 3, when Hiram makes the return trip to John P. Papp Stadium at 1 p.m.