HARTFORD, Conn. – First year attacker Emmett Edwards (Sunderland, Vt.) netted four goals and the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team ripped off five straight goals in a pivotal third quarter, en-route to a 12-11 come-back victory over host University of Hartford this afternoon at Al-Marzook Field in Hartford, Conn.
The match was the season opener for both squads and the first-ever game between the schools.
The Lyons improve to 1-0 on the season, while the Hawks fall to 0-1.
Wheaton out-shot its host, 43-37, including 16-8 in the game-deciding third quarter. The Lyons were outstanding moving the ball with, owning a 15-17 success rate in clears, while Hartford managed just 17 of 24.
Edwards added an assist, four ground balls and a caused turnover for Wheaton, while junior attackman Charlie Goodrich (Fairfield, Conn.) netted three goals and added an assist. Senior midfielder Jack Board (Westborough, Mass.) scored a pair of goals to go with an assist and sophomore attacker Mitch Tepedino (Southbury, Conn.) tallied two goals and picked up a ground ball. Sophomore Chris Bodnaruk (Andover, Mass.) registered a game-high seven ground balls and won 14 of 26 face-offs. Senior goalie Connor Almstrom (Cumberland, R.I.) stopped 12 shots for the Lyons.
Sophomore attacker Michael Novotny (Cornwall, N.Y.) scored four goals and notched an assist to lead the Hawks and sophomore midfielder Aidan Ezra (New Milford, Conn.) recorded four points, including a pair of goals in addition to a ground ball. Graduate student middie Jake Ojert (Doylestown, Pa.) contributed with two goals, an assist and a ground ball and sophomore face-off man Ben Costanzo (Chester, Conn.) won 10 of 16 draws, while picking up four ground balls. Hartford keeper CJ Ledwick (Falmouth, Mass.) turned away 17 shots for the game.
Novotny scored the first two markers in the opening minutes of the third quarter to give the home team a 10-7 lead, before Wheaton put together a crushing string of five straight goals to give it the lead for good. Edwards tied the contest at 10-10 with an advantage goal coming at 2:55, before Tepedino gave the Lyons the lead for good at 11-10 with a minute left in the third quarter. Board supplied a crucial insurance goal with just 28 ticks left on the third quarter clock. The two-goal lead wound up being just enough for Wheaton.
The back of the net proved to be elusive for both teams in the fourth quarter, with the only marker of the period coming from Ojert with seven minutes to go in the game. The score pulled the Hawks within 12-11, where the score remained until the final horn sounded.
Hartford opened the game with three of the first four goals, including a pair from Novotny, for a 3-1 Hawks' advantage with 7:28 left in the opening quarter.
Edwards later cut the deficit to 5-4 with a goal for the Lyons at the 8:43 mark of the second quarter. Ojert increased Hartford's margin to 8-5 with an advantage marker coming with 4:50 remaining in the first half, before Edwards ripped a pair of goals in a span of 16 seconds to slice the difference to 8-7 for Wheaton with just 10 seconds left before the intermission.
The Lyons return to action on Wednesday, February 19 when they host Gordon College for their home opener at 7:00 p.m. on Nordin Field, while the Hawks make the short trip to West Hartford, Conn. to take on University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on the same day at 3:30 p.m.
