By: Athletic Communications Student Intern Joe Huff '21
BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's lacrosse defeats Mount Union University in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup by a final score of 23-10 inside George Finnie Stadium on Tressel Field.
BW (7-0, 5-0 OAC) was led by freshman attacker Gunner MacMillan (Henrietta, N.Y./Rush Henrietta) who scored a career-best six goals. Freshman attacker Jake Nanosky (Medina) scored five goals and added three assists. Freshman midfielder Zakary Kroeger (Cincinnati/Archbishop Moeller) added three goals and an assist. Junior midfielder Eric Bechtel (Westlake) also added two goals.
Mount Union (3-3, 2-2 OAC) was led by sophomore attacker Eli Cotti who scored four goals and added an assist. Six other Purple Raiders scored a goal each.
The Yellow Jackets started the game on fire opening on a 4-0 run which was started 1:40 into the game by freshman midfielder Trevor Stevens (Buffalo, N.Y./Lancaster) when he ripped one past the keeper. The last three goals all came by the way of Nanosky. Mount Union closed out the scoring in the quarter with a goal by senior midfielder Jacob Dobb which the cut the BW lead down to 4-1.
The second quarter scoring was started by the Yellow Jackets as they came out on a 2-0 run. Nanosky and MacMillan were the two scorers to give BW a 6-1 lead. The Purple Raiders responded with a goal from Cotti with 10:11 remaining in the quarter. The BW defense was swarming the rest of the half, holding Mount Union scoreless the rest of the half on the way to a 5-0 run. Macmillan led the run scoring the last three goals which gave BW a 11-2 at the half.
The second half started the same way as BW continued their run with 4 additional goals for a 9-0 run that spanned into the second quarter. Kroeger scored two of the four goals to start the half. The Purple Raiders was able to end the run when Cotti hit the back of the net with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter which cut the Yellow Jackets lead to 15-3. BW was able to respond when Bechtel rifled one into the back of the net. Mount Union responded with a goal from junior attacker Alex Ellison. The Yellow Jackets came back with a 2-0 run which saw senior midfielder Bryce Moran (Medina) and Kroeger score a goal each. The Purple Raiders responded with 2:59 remaining in the quarter with a goal from Cotti. BW finished the quarter on a 2-0 run coming by the way of senior midfielders Gage Schneider (Hamburg, N.Y.) and Ethan Miller (Delaware/ Olentangy) to expand the Yellow Jackets lead to 20-5.
The fourth quarter saw Mount Union open the scoring when Cotti got one past the keeper. BW responded shortly after with a goal from Bechtel. The Purple Raiders came back with a 3-0 run that was capped off by sophomore midfielder Logan Gebhart. The Yellow Jackets responded with a 2-0 run of their own, which was capped off by freshman midfielder Keaton Trout (Pickerington/ North) with 1:28 remaining the game. Mount Union ended the scoring with one last goal coming from freshman midfielder Mark Zusman with 26 seconds remaining to finish at a final score of 23-10.
In the cage, sophomore goalkeeper Joe Storner (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) recorded 10 saves on the 15 shots he faced in three quarters of action. Freshman goalkeeper Samuel LoPiccolo (Mason/William Mason) recorded two shots on the seven shots he faced in one quarter of action.
BW is back in action of Wednesday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m. as they travel to University Heights to take on crosstown rival John Carroll in a non-conference matchup in Don Shula Stadium.
