ALLIANCE, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team, which is off to its best start, matched the program's longest winning streak at nine games with Wednesday evening's 17-11 win over the University of Mount Union at Kehres Stadium. Wooster, one of two NCAA Div. III teams that currently sport a 9-0 record, last won nine straight games spanning parts of the 1983 and 1984 seasons.
The Fighting Scots convincingly raced ahead of the Purple Raiders (3-4) with an 8-0 run to start Wednesday's clash. Wooster kept Mount Union off the board until the 9:14 mark of the second period and maintained at least a six-goal cushion following the opening onslaught. Senior Vinny DiLeo and junior Shane Epstein-Petrullo score two goals apiece in the opening stanza. Mount Union did not get on the board until the 9:14 mark of the second period.
Wooster really flexed its muscles in the first period by more than doubling up Mount Union 20-11 in groundballs and nearly doubling them up 18-10 on shots. Wooster had just three turnovers in the opening stanza to Mount Union's 10. Three of the Purple Raiders' early miscues were of the caused turnover variety, with sophomore Colton Beaudoin, senior Mason Poisson, and junior Casey Steffen each having one. Steffen, who entered play sixth nationally in caused turnovers per game, nearly doubled his per-game average with seven. He is up to 38 on the year, the third-most in single-season program history since it became an officially tracked statistic in 2010.
DiLeo's four goals led 10 Scots in the scoring column, and first-year Lane Kellogg was right behind at four. Wooster went 22-of-30 on faceoffs, with junior Jimmy Fisher leading the charge at 11-of-13 to exceed 340 wins for his career. Fisher matched Steffen at nine groundballs, and sophomore Rory Zahren was at seven, aided by eight faceoff wins. Noteworthy, Fisher now has the fourth-most groundballs in program history since it became a NCAA-tracked statistic at 219. Junior Paul Chandler turned away 13 Purple Raider shots.
Logan Gebhart scored four goals, while Anthony Andreski led Mount Union's defense with six groundballs and four caused turnovers. Logan Gunderman made 15 saves.
Wooster outshot Mount Union 57-43 and had 67 groundballs to the Purple Raiders' 49. The teams combined to go 40-of-52 on clear attempts and 6-of-10 on extra-player chances. Notable, Wooster's 67 groundballs are the seventh-most in a NCAA Div. III game this spring.
Next, Wooster opens conference play at Oberlin College (4-3) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 25. The Scots are in search of their eighth straight win in a conference lid-lifter.