DAVENPORT, Iowa - The Owls'
Vinny DeMarco tallied a single-game program record, game-high six points, and
Drew Stubblefield registered a game-high .552 save percentage as William Woods University (0-4, 0-1 Heart of America Athletic Conference) fell 13-9 to St. Ambrose University (1-5, 1-0) in its Heart opener Wednesday at St. Vincent's Athletic Complex.
"We fell short of our goal today with the loss," William Woods lacrosse coach
Seth Matlock said. "Hats off to the scrappy St. Ambrose team. We had time to heal up and be at full strength but had too many mental mistakes to be in this game. As a team, we can't commit 30 turnovers and expect to be competitive. Still working on putting a full 60 minutes together as a team and mentally playing at a higher level. We have a quick turnaround before our next contest and must be tougher both mentally and physically and bounce back Saturday."
Although the Owls didn't win, they had the leading attacking and goaltending performance in the matchup. DeMarco recorded a game-high 15 shots, scored a co-game-high five goals on a co-game-high eight shots on goal and tacked on five ground balls, two caused turnovers and one assist. Stubblefield (0-4) had 11 more saves than the Bees' goalie, with 16 stops while facing 15 more shots on goal than his adversary.
Sam Snyder joined DeMarco with a multi-point showing for Woods, notching two assists and one goal on his lone shot, and he added five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Gage Loffer was the Owls' leading possession-getter, posting a team-high eight ground balls, two caused turnovers, and on the offensive side, he had an assist.
The Bees scored the game's first two goals in 5:53, then
Xavier Dockery netted the Owls' first-ever goal in Heart play off a Snyder assist with 8:44 left in the first quarter. St. Ambrose extended its advantage to 6-1 before Snyder provided his second goal when DeMarco placed his shot past the Bees' shot-stopper with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.
DeMarco and Snyder had an unassisted goal to open the second quarter's scoring; the latter's score cut WWU's deficit to 6-4 with 9:51 left until halftime. After SAU increased its lead to three, DeMarco brought it back to a two-goal game (7-5), earning a hat trick with 4:30 remaining in the second quarter. The Bees tallied the final goal of the first half on the main advantage as the hosts led 8-5 at halftime.
David Wiley got on the scoresheet off a Loffer helper, which cut the Owls' deficit to two goals for the third time at 8-6 with 12:19 to go in the third quarter. DeMarco was involved in WWU's final two goals of the third, assisting
Ethan NewMyer's with 5:32 left, then just 1:13 later, the two-time All-American turned scorer, narrowing it to a two-goal contest for the fourth and final instance at 10-8.
With 2:34 on the clock in the fourth quarter, DeMarco finished the Owls' scoring, potting his single-game program record fifth and final goal, which made it 12-9 St. Ambrose.
For the game, William Woods totaled 30 shots (14 on goal), 51 ground balls, 32 turnovers and won 13-26 faceoffs. St. Ambrose recorded 51 shots (29 on goal), 56 ground balls, 23 turnovers and won 13-26 faceoffs.
The Owls face a familiar foe among their athletic programs for the first home game of their inaugural campaign, hosting Missouri Baptist University (0-4, 0-0 Heart) at 6 p.m. Saturday at North Campus Athletic Complex in Fulton.
