FULTON, Mo. -
Ethan NewMyer netted a hat trick for three of his team-high four points as William Woods University (0-5, 0-2 Heart of America Athletic Conference) led by as much as three goals (8-5) but ultimately dropped a heartbreaking inaugural home opener to Missouri Baptist University (2-4, 2-0) Saturday at North Campus Athletic Complex.
"Another close, tough loss, but I feel like we are getting closer to flipping 'that' switch," William Woods lacrosse coach
Seth Matlock said. "Great energy from the fans, and the team was able to feed off that momentum for most of the game. The team fought hard for 60 minutes and did what we asked of them; we just ran out of time - focusing on the little victories to help us continue to put together a complete team game. Stubblefield had some phenomenal saves to keep this game within reach. We had five different goal scorers, and
Ethan NewMyer led the scoring with a hat trick. Over 50 percent of the goals were assisted, which is what you like to see as a coach. We are looking better as a team, and I'm very proud of these young men for giving everything they have. Building for the future."
Not only did the Owls have a strong showing from NewMyer, who slotted a team-, co-game-high five of his seven shots on goal, but they also did from
Vinny DeMarco and
Jack Brackin. DeMarco potted two goals on a team-high 11 shots and added an assist, while Brackin provided a team-high two goals and scored one goal.
Xavier Dockery guided WWU's possession-getting effort, posting a team-high six ground balls, and he placed two of his three shots on goal. Owls freshman netminder
Drew Stubblefield (0-5) stopped nine shots in 22 attempts, and he tied
Chris Hanson,
Loren Woita and
Kyle Fischer for the game-high in caused turnovers with two.
Sam Snyder and DeMarco added their names to the William Woods record book when the former scored off the latter's assist for the Owls' first-ever home goal - with a man up - which trimmed their deficit to 3-1 with 1:21 left in the first quarter.
William Woods picked up its offense in the second quarter, tying it at 4 on Brackin's unassisted goal with 2:22 to go before halftime. That was the last of three straight Owls goals, which began with scores by Snyder from a NewMyer assist with 4:21 left and
David Wiley off an
Emmet Mathis pass with 2:57 remaining. Missouri Baptist netted the final goal of the first half as The Woods trailed 5-4 at the break.
The Owls returned to the field and played their most dominant stretch of lacrosse, finding the back of the net four times without reply in the opening 12:34 of the second half to go up 8-5. NewMyer began the run with his goal from a Brackin helper with 7:34 left in the third quarter. DeMarco scored back-to-back unassisted goals with 4:57 and 3:58 on the clock, and NewMyer received another Brackin assist and slotted his shot past the Spartans' goalie with 2:36 remaining.
MBU reduced WWU's lead to two goals (8-6) through three quarters, then the Spartans outscored the Owls 7-1 in the fourth quarter as WWU dropped a match full of emotions.
For the game, William Woods totaled 40 shots (22 on goal), 26 ground balls, eight turnovers and won five faceoffs. Missouri Baptist tallied 41 shots (22 on goal), 36 ground balls, 28 turnovers and won 20 faceoffs.
The Owls play the second game of their three-game homestand against a team many of their players were on previously, hosting Ottawa University (0-4, 0-2 Heart) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
