By: Athletic Communications Student Intern Joe Huff '21
ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's lacrosse opned the 2021 seaon as it team defeated the University of Mount Union in an Ohio Athletic Conference game by a final score of 10-7 inside Mount Union Stadium.
BW (1-0, 1-0 OAC) was led by freshman attacker Gunner MacMillan (Henrietta, N.Y./Rush Henrietta) as he scored a game-high five goals in his collegiate debut. Freshman attacker Zakary Kroeger (Cincinnati/ Archbishop Moeller) also added three goals. Two other Yellow Jackets finished with one goal.
Mount Union (0-1, 0-1 OAC) was led by sophomore Logan Gebhart as he tallied three goals and added two assists. Senior All-OAC midfielder Alek Kungle and sophomore attacker Eli Cotti each added two goals.
The first quarter started out slow as both teams were held scoreless for the first six minutes. However, the Purple Raiders were able to get things started when Ciotti found the back of the cage. The Yellow Jackets were able to get an equalizer when MacMillan got the offense going with 8:20 remaining in the first. Mount Union struck back with a 2-0 run that was capped off with a goal by Kungle. BW finished off the scoring with a 2-0 run when MacMillan found the back of the net for the second time.
The defense for both teams tightened up in the second quarter. As both offenses were silenced until 6:01 remaining in the second. When MacMillan found the back of the net on a man-up goal to give the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the game at 4-3. BW was able to extend their run to 4-0 when freshman midfielder Keaton Trout (Pickerington/Pickerington North) hit the back of the net with 1:19 remaining. The Purple Raiders were able to close out the half with a goal by Kungle that trimmed the Yellow Jackets lead down to 5-4.
In the third quarterm, the offense started out hot when MacMillan hit the back of the net to give Baldwin Wallace the 6-4 lead. However, Mount Union responded quickly when freshman midfielder Logan Gebhart found the back of the back of the cage with 13:23 remaining. After a long scoring drought for both teams, Kroeger put one home for the Yellow Jackets to increase the lead to 7-5 with 4:56. This proved to be the last goal of the quarter.
The Purple Raiders got the scoring going in the fourth as they went on a 2-0 run that was capped off by a goal from Gebhart that tied things at 7 with 8:50 remaining in the game. BW held Mount Union scoreless the rest of the way as they added three goals that was capped off by MacMillan with 2:31 remaining.
In the net, sophomore goalkeeper Joe Storner (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) recorded nine saves on 33 total shots.
The Yellow Jackets return to action on Saturday, March 6, when BW hosts crosstown rival John Carroll University at 1:00 p.m. inside George Finnie Stadium on the Tressel Field.
