Eastern Overtakes Fast Start by Wilkes Men's Lacrosse to Win 19-7
ST. DAVIDS, PA – The Wilkes University men's lacrosse team sprinted out to a 4-1 lead at Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) leader Eastern University Saturday afternoon but the home squad turned it on to pull away to a 19-7 victory at Olson Field.
With the loss Wilkes dropped to 6-8 overall and to 1-4 in the MAC Freedom while Eastern improved to 8-6 overall and to 5-0 in conference action.
Nicholas Ruggiero (Califon, NJ/Voorhees) started the scoring for the Colonels just 1:13 into the game for his 31
st strike of the season. After Eastern tied the score Wilkes answered with three goals between the 7:54 mark and the 4:44 mark of the first quarter to go ahead 4-1.
Connor Daly (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Twp.) scored the first goal of the run off an assist from
Jeremy Kachel (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata).
JT Weitzel (Hampstead, MD/North Carroll) then netted his fourth goal of the year and
Nico Lorenzo (Howell, NJ/Howell) his 28
th both unassisted.
The Eagles scored three goals in the final 3:25 of the first quarter to tie the score at 4-4 after the first 15 minutes. Eastern then scored all six goals in the second quarter and the first goal in a third frame to take an 11-4 lead on a 10-0 scoring run.
John Wink (Glenside, PA/Abington) scored his 32
nd goal of the season on Kachel's conference leading 26
th assist of the year to stop the Eastern streak.
The Eagles would score the game's next four goals to go ahead 15-5 with 13:43 left in the fourth quarter.
John Luna (Valley Center, CA/Valley Center) then scored his 17
th goal of the year off a pass from Wink before Eastern scored on the man-down. Daly added his second goal of the game and 12
th of the season to cap the Wilkes scoring and Eastern closed the game with the final three tallies for the 19-7 victory.
Daly (2 goals), Wink (1 goal, 1 assist), and Kachel (2 assists) led the Colonels attack with two-point games.
Jack O'Connell (Linwood, NJ/St. Augustine Prep.) led Wilkes with nine ground balls and
Garrett Armstrong (Hampton, NJ/Kittatinny) added five.
James Peaney (Forked River, NJ/Lacey Twp.) and O'Connell each caused three turnovers.
Carter Whittemore (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit) suffered the loss making eight first-half saves.
Cody Geidel (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) played the second 30 minutes making six saves.
Mark Buannic led Eastern with seven points on three goals and four assists while Trent Ashton added six points on five goals and one assist. Three Eagles goalkeepers combined to make 17 stops.
The Colonels return home to host Delaware Valley at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday in a MAC Freedom game at Schmidt Stadium.
