By: Ryan Sosic '19
WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Baldwin Wallace University men's lacrosse team put together a record-breaking 34-4 Ohio Athletic Conference win against Wilmington College inside Williams Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets (9-2, 3-1 OAC) broke school records with 34 goals, 23 assists and 57 points. The previous school records stood at 31 goals and 18 assists – both set back in 2015 – and 46 points, which was tied last Saturday against Marietta College.
Junior attack Drew Braden (Wooster) scored a career-high 10 points with a career-best five goals and five assists. Freshman midfielder Skylar Bays (Granger, Ind./Marian), senior All-OAC attack Chad Steinwachs (Buffalo, N.Y./Williamsville North), junior midfielder Hunter Lute (North Canton) and junior midfielder Ben Kubiak (Wooster) all scored three goals. In all, a total of 18 Yellow Jackets were able to find the back of the net.
In the cage, sophomore goalkeeper Trent Davis (Ottawa Hills) picked up his fourth consecutive win and made all three of the Yellow Jackets' saves.
Wilmington (2-8, 0-4 OAC) was led by junior midfielder Jadon Flannery with two goals. Junior midfielder Andrew Miller scored a goal and was able to pick up two ground balls while senior defender Eric Wathen was able score a goal.
The Yellow Jackets were able to find their footing early and never looked back, starting the first quarter on a 10-0 run that spanned almost 13 minutes. The run was highlighted by three goals by Kubiak and Steinwachs. The Quakers scored two unanswered goals to get on the scoreboard at the 2:10 mark. BW headed into the second quarter with a 12-2 lead after goals from sophomore midfielder Nicholas Nanosky (Medina) and sophomore midfielder Carson Howatt (Dexter, Mich.).
After Wilmington scored a man-up goal to start off the second period, the Yellow Jackets scored 10 straight goals to head into the intermission with a 22-3 lead. In the half, BW put 29 shots on goal and won 22 of the 26 face offs. BW's defense forced 11 turnovers and only allowed the Quakers to put six shots on goal.
The offense carried over into the second half as the BW scored the first five goals, including two by Braden. Wilmington found the back of the net almost halfway into the quarter off a goal by Wathen to make the score 27-4. Junior midfielder Austin Routzong (Hilliard/Bradley) and Braden scored the last goals of the third quarter to make the extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 29-4.
The Yellow Jackets held the Quakers scoreless in the fourth quarter while finding the back of the net five times, including two man-up goals by sophomore midfielder Gage Schneider (Hamburg, N.Y.), to walk away with a 34-4 victory.
BW will return home on Wednesday, April 10, when they take on Ohio Northern University at 7 p.m. inside George Finnie Stadium.
