By: Cannon Dees '20

BEREA, Ohio- The Baldwin Wallace University men's lacrosse team opened its 2019 season in exciting fashion as they held off the Grove City Wolverines (Pa.) in a non-conference matchup, finishing with a score of 12-11.

BW (1-0) was led by senior All-OAC attacker Chad Steinwachs (Buffalo, N.Y./Williamsville North), who had four goals and three assists for the Yellow Jackets. Senior attacker Blake Bower (Lewis Center/Olentangy) also tallied three goals in the home-opening win.

Grove City's (0-1) efforts were taken charge by freshman midfielder Brett Gladstone who scored four goals for the Wolverines and junior attacker Henry Brannan who added three goals and one assist.

BW got the season started quick as Steinwachs scored the first goal of the game at the 11:55 mark before Bower added two more to help the Yellow Jackets jump out to the early 3-0 lead. Down early, Grove City responded thirty seconds later as they put in two of their own. After some back and forth between the two teams, sophomore attacker James Brown (Canfield/Cardinal Mooney) tacked on the final goal of the quarter for BW with 1:44 left. Grove City scored immediately after to close out the scoring in the period with a score of 4-3.

The second quarter got off to a quick start as each team exchanged a goal in the opening two minutes before a five-minute stalemate. Sophomore midfielder Nicholas Nanosky (Medina) broke the deadlock by scoring his first goal of the season at the 7:18 mark to help extend the Yellow Jacket lead. Grove City wasn't down for long though, as they rattled off four goals in two minutes to take their first lead of the game by a score of 8-6. Junior midfielder Ben Kubiak (Wooster) tacked on another goal in the final 10 seconds of the half to finish out the half.

Grove City jumped into the third quarter fast, opening the scoring in just over a minute to extend the lead. However, a goal by junior midfielder Riley Mahon (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) at the 8:00 mark, followed by Steinwachs' third and fourth goals of the game just a minute later, helped Baldwin Wallace regain control of the game with a score of 10-9. A late, man-up push saw Grove City score in the final minute to head into the final quarter with a tied score.

The opening goal of the fourth quarter came almost halfway through, after Kubiak put away his second goal of the game to give the Yellow Jackets the final lead of the game. A third and final Bower goal with 2:00 left proved vital as Grove City's final push of one goal was not enough to overcome the one goal deficit, leaving the game with a final score of 12-11.

BW will next take the field on Wednesday, February 27, when it hosts the Saint Vincent College Bearcats inside George Finnie Stadium at 7:00 p.m.