CREVE COUER, Mo. - William Woods University (0-1) opened its inaugural campaign against the No. 6 team in the nation, Indiana Institute of Technology (3-0), and the Owls fell 24-8 to the Warriors Saturday at Spartan Field. The matchup was initially scheduled to be played on WWU's campus at North Campus Athletic Complex, but it was moved to Missouri Baptist University's field due to the weather forecast.
"We played tough against a very talented No. 6 team," William Woods lacrosse coach
Seth Matlock said. "It was a good challenge and exposed us in areas we need to improve on. We had some standouts in goalie
Drew Stubblefield, who played outstanding and had 31 saves.
Vinny De Marco also had a great game on offense with three goals (three points)."
David Wiley and
Jack Brackin put their names in the record book as The Woods' first goalscorer and assister, respectively. Tying it at 1, Brackin found Wiley, who slotted his shot into the back of the net early in the first quarter. The Owls knotted it up one more time at 2-all when
Ethan Newmyer scored an unassisted goal with less than five minutes left in the first.
After that, Indiana Tech tallied 11 unanswered goals to hold a 13-2 advantage with a bit over 10 minutes until halftime. Two-time All-American
Vinny De Marco put WWU back on the scoreboard to bring the score to 13-3. De Marco didn't stop there, adding two more goals to finish a hat trick and cut the Owls' deficit to 14-6. The Warriors increased their advantage to 10 goals (16-6) at the break.
Brackin (one goal and two assists) joined fellow Ottawa University transfers Wiley (two goals and one assist) and De Marco (three goals) with a tri-team-high three points after he posted his first goal - unassisted - as an Owl early in the third quarter, making it 18-7 Indiana Tech. Capping WWU's offense, a sixth former Brave, now Owl,
Sam Snyder, placed a shot into the goal toward the end of the third. Woods trailed 21-8 following Snyder's goal, and the Warriors outscored the Owls 3-0 from there to take the game by 16.
Freshman goalie
Drew Stubblefield (0-1) stopped a flurry of shots, 31 in 55 attempts, and took the loss despite that.Â
Although it lost to Indiana Tech, William Woods scored three more goals — tied for the most of any opponent — than No. 9 Savannah College of Art and Design did against the Warriors. The Bees lost 17-5 to Indiana Tech on Feb. 9 in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
The Owls play a pair of games in Michigan next weekend, beginning with (RV) Siena Heights University (0-0) at noon Saturday at O'Laughlin Stadium in Adrian.
"Overall, we have a great core of players on this team," Matlock said. "We need to fix the 'little things' but are very confident in our direction as a program."
