Late Goal Helps Wilkes Men's Lacrosse Over FDU-Florham
MADISON, N.J. - Austin Seames (Newton, NJ/Kittatinny Regional) scored a goal with 15 seconds left on the clock to help the Wilkes University men's lacrosse team make a comeback and earn a Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) win over FDU-Florham in Saturday afternoon action at Shields Field.
The Colonels would go to 3-12 on the year and earn their first conference win of the season as they are 1-5 in the MAC Freedom. The Devils fall to 6-10 this season and 2-5 in conference play.
The game would begin with FDU jumping out to an early 3-0 lead with less than three minutes into the first quarter. Luke Weakland (Sparks, MD/Hereford) would get the Colonels on the board with a goal at the 8:32 mark, but the Devils would tack on two more to finish the first quarter up 5-1. FDU outshot Wilkes in the first quarter 13-7 and in ground balls 12-7.
Wilkes would respond with three goals of their own, with Colby Opromolla (Patterson, NY/Carmel) finding the back of the net at the 14:13 mark to make it 5-2. Weakland would get his second of the day at the 10:13 mark while Opromolla followed behind at the 8:53 mark to get Wilkes within one score of FDU. The Devils would get a goal to put them back at two scores, but Tim Hartka (Phoenix, MD/Calvert Hall) would find the back of the net with five seconds left in the half to get the Colonels going into the break trailing 6-5. The Devils still had the lead in shots with 11 to the Colonels eight, with each team tied at seven with ground balls.
FDU scored less than a minute into the second half, but Tucker Parmer (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata) would score at the 10:51 mark while Hartka followed at 5:53 to get the game tied at 7-7. Each team would trade scores as the Devils scored at 5:09 while Opromolla responded at the 4:50 mark to keep it even. The Devils would then get two goals before the end of the third and head into the fourth quarter leading 10-8. FDU still led in shots 14-8 and ground balls 12-10.
The Devils would get one more score at the 7:42 mark to get themselves up 11-8. The Colonels would begin to slowly comeback as Henry O'Connor (Baltimore, MD/Dulaney) scored at the 7:22 mark to make it 11-9. Opromolla and Hartka would add another score at the 3:11 and 1:18 marks to notch it up 11-11. Brendan Keegan (Middletown, NY/Pine Bush) would force a turnover by FDU, with Parmer getting the ground ball. Michael Rauch (Jackson, NJ/Jackson) would then find Seames who would get the game-winning goal, helping the Colonels earn a 12-11 conference win over the Devils.
FDU outshot Wilkes 52-30 and won in ground balls 41-31. The Devils went 19-20 in clears while the Colonels were 28-32.
Opromolla would lead the team with four scores in the game. Hartka would follow behind with three goals while Weakland had two of his own. Parmer, O'Henry, and Rauch would all have one goal apiece. Hunter Riley (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa Central) would have six ground balls on the day and five caused turnovers. Parmer and O'Connor had four ground balls while Rauch, Keegan, and Matthew Warns (Cutchogue, NY/Mattituck) had three apiece.
Wilkes will return home to conclude their home games as they welcome DeSales University to Schmidt Stadium this Wednesday in MAC Freedom action that begins at 7:00 p.m.
