ALFRED, N.Y. – The Baldwin Wallace University men's lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season as it fell to Alfred (N.Y.) University in a hard fought 13-11 non-conference clash on Merrill Field inside Yunevich Stadium.
BW (5-1) was led by sophomore attack Derek Andrews (Alden, N.Y./Iroquois) with a game-high tying three goals. Andrews also added an assist for a game-best tying four points. Freshman midfielder Chad Steinwachs (Buffalo, N.Y. / Williamsville North) recorded two goals and two assists for a game-high tying four points. Junior midfielder Jarrod Gilliam (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) tallied two goals. Sophomore attack Brock Riemenschneider (Rocky River) netted a goal and added a game-best tying three assists for a game-high tying four points.
Alfred (5-1) was led by Derek Bishopp and Tanner Morse as each scored a game-best tying three goals and each added an assist for a game-high tying four points. John Winchell added a goal and a game-best tying three assists for a game-high tying four points.
In the first quarter, the Saxons jumped out to a 3-0 lead on two goals by Jake Lynch and one from Bishopp with the last coming at the 4:45 mark. The Yellow Jackets got their lone goal of the period when senior midfielder Steve Wozniak (Strongsville/Padua Franciscan) found the back of the net at 2:04.
BW opened the second quarter scoring and cut the lead down to 3-2 when Brock Riemenschneider scored his only goal of the game at the 14:03 mark. After another Alfred goal made the score 4-2, the Yellow Jackets answered with two goals from Andrews and one from Gilliam to take a 5-4 lead on Andrews' second tally at 2:47. The Saxons responded with two goals to take a 6-5 lead with 57 seconds remaining in the first half. BW got its final goal from Steinwachs just nine seconds later. Alfred closed out the first half scoring and led 7-6 at the intermission.
In the third quarter, the Saxons extended their lead to 8-6 when Joe Fornataro scored at the 12:59 mark. The Yellow Jackets tied the game at 8-8 as it got scores from Gilliam at 12:06 and from junior midfielder Shane Rakich (Dublin/Olentangy Liberty) at the 6:59 mark. Alfred scored the final three goals of the period and led 11-8 after three quarters of play.
BW opened the fourth quarter scoring and cut the lead down to 11-9 when Andrews scored his third and final goal of the contest at 12:38. After the Saxons netted another goal, the Yellow Jackets scored their final two goals of the game and cut the lead down to 12-11 on a goal from sophomore attack Alex Binner (East Amherst, N.Y. / Williamsville North) at the 8:12 mark and the second score of the game for Steinwachs at 7:32. Alfred tacked on one last goal at the 6:01 mark.
In net for BW, sophomore All-OAC netminder Mike Dizonno (Buffalo Grove, Ill. / Adlai E. Stevenson) faced 38 shots, including 24 shots on goal, and made 11 saves.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Friday, March 25 when they host a non-conference game against Alma (Mich.) College on the Tressel Field inside the George Finnie Stadium at 5 p.m. Fans can follow all of the action live at http://bit.ly/1RVZF9f.
Photo credit to Michael Bower
