Men’s Lacrosse Sets Program Win Record Against Hiram

COPLEY - The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team won a program-best 13th game as the Fighting Scots defeated Hiram College 24-5 in the season finale at Copley High School. 

Wooster (13-4, 4-4 North Coast Athletic Conference) surpassed the previous program best of 12 wins, which was achieved twice in program history in 1983 and again in 1991.

First-year Lane Kellogg was the leading scorer for the Scots with four goals and eight points. Junior Vinny DiLeo dished out five assists on the evening and added two goals.

Senior Teddy Berner and junior Ben Huntington each recorded a hat trick while sophomore Colton Beaudoin and senior Ryan You were the other multi-goal scorers for the Scots.

Junior Charlie Ballou and sophomore Will Fink both had identical stat lines of one goal and three assists. 

It was all Wooster early as the Scots raced ahead to an 11-0 advantage after one frame. Eight different Scots found the back of the net in that period with assists coming on all but one goal. Kellogg took charge of the offense with four goals and three assists. 

The second quarter featured less offense, although Wooster continued to add to its lead with a 3-0 run. Hiram (5-12, 0-8 North Coast Athletic Conference) then got on the scoreboard with 2:09 left before junior Ben Byars answered the Terrier score to give the Scots a 15-1 lead at halftime. 

Wooster outscored Hiram 6-1 in the third period, including the start of a personal 3-0 run for Huntington that spanned the final two quarters. There was a flurry of action late in the fourth quarter as the Terriers closed on a 3-1 run with two-man up goals en route to the 24-5 final. 

Four different Scots saw action in the net with junior Paul Chandler picking up his 12th win of the season. First-year Théo Weidinger recorded a team-high five stops and senior Adam Meyer made one save as well. 

Junior Casey Steffen continued to wreak havoc on opponent's offenses with five caused turnovers. Junior Jimmy Fisher won 18-of-21 faceoffs and grabbed a team-high 14 ground balls. 

Noah Pilgram led the way for the Terriers with three goals. Ambrose Colliluori and Ethan Mayer had the other two goals for Hiram with one apiece. Aidan Griffin made 16 saves in the cage. 

Wooster exceeded its season averages in caused turnovers (17), ground balls (68) and opponent clear percentage (.250) where the Scots currently rank fifth, fifth and second nationally, respectively. 

Steffen currently holds the NCAA Division III single-season record for caused turnovers per game at 5.05 and is awaiting the completion of the NCAA Division III Championships to see if it holds as a single-season record. He also ranks third nationally all-time in single season caused turnovers with 86.