FULTON, Mo. - Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd was played many times Wednesday night at North Campus Athletic Complex, 26 times precisely as William Woods University (1-5, 1-2 Heart of America Athletic Conference) scored that many goals in a resounding program-first victory, beating Ottawa University (0-5, 0-3) 26-2.
"I'm happy for the first win in program history," William Woods lacrosse coach
Seth Matlock said. "More than anything, I'm happy for this team, these players, and coaches who put so much time, energy and effort into making our program successful. This was a team win all around, and we were able to get back to having fun playing as one and, most importantly, putting 60 minutes together. Our team culture revolves around 'we over me' and I felt tonight's game was a great indication of what we can do when we all hold true to those values. Proud of this team and thank you to all that support us. Go Owls!"
Of the seven Owls to get on the scoresheet,
Ethan NewMyer (five goals and three assists) and
Vinny DeMarco (three goals and five assists) stood out most with eight co-game-high points. Neither of them had the game-high in goals as
David Wiley did that for WWU with seven goals on a game-high 11 shots (seven on goal).
On the support side, the Owls'
Sam Snyder registered a co-team-high seven ground balls in addition to his hat-trick, and
Jayden Spore also had seven ground balls. Defensively, WWU's
Loren Woita forced a game-high four caused turnovers, and goalie
Drew Stubblefield had a quiet night between the posts with five saves in seven attempts.
Just 2:21 into the game, The Woods took its game-deciding lead on
Xavier Dockery's goal from a
Jack Brackin assist. The Owls added four more goals in the first quarter: DeMarco unassisted with 10:47 left, Wiley off a DeMarco helper with 7:38 remaining, Snyder from a Brackin assist with 5:48 to go, Wiley provided by Dockery with 4:16 on the clock and NewMyer unassisted with 3:52 left.
Brackin opened the Owls' seven-goal second quarter, slotting his shot into the back of the net unassisted with 13:58 remaining. Following that, WWU's Wiley finished his hat trick with 9:59 left, NewMyer potted his second shot into the back of the net with 9:04 to go, Wiley added his fourth goal from a Brackin assist with 8:37 on the clock, DeMarco secured his second goal with 3:47 left, Brackin got his second goal off a DeMarco helper with 3:07 to go and Wiley concluded his five-goal first half with 2:39 remaining.
William Woods' 13-goal first half already tied its single-game scoring record. The Owls broke the record 1:06 into the second half on Dockery's goal, provided by DeMarco, which made it 14-0 WWU. Piling on eight more goals in the third quarter, the Owls' NewMyer netted his third goal from DeMarco's assist with 12:04 left, WWU's No. 4 got his fourth goal on
Chris Hanson's assist with 10:59 remaining, NewMyer turned provider as Wiley slotted in his sixth goal with 10:09 to go, Snyder scored from DeMarco's assist with 8:38 left,
Emmet Mathis placed his shot past the goalie from NewMyer's helper with 7:46 remaining, Wiley wrapped up his seven-goal performance with 2:09 to go, Brackin scored with 1:17 left and Snyder got his third and final goal, finishing the third quarter scoring and making it 22-1 Owls with 20 seconds remaining.
In a rapid fourth quarter, William Woods outscored Ottawa 4-1. NewMyer placed the Owls' first shot into the back of the net in the fourth, taking a Mathis pass with 12:41 left. WWU's final three goals of its historic offensive effort were scored by DeMarco from Brackin's assist with 11:17 remaining, Dockery unassisted with 8:43 to go and Mathis from a NewMyer helper with 4:24 on the clock. The Owls not only had a milestone attacking showing, but they also did defensively, with their two goals conceded being their least this season.
For the game, William Woods totaled 49 shots (33 on goal), 44 ground balls, 10 turnovers and won 17 face-offs. Ottawa had 17 shots (seven on goal), 28 ground balls, 21 turnovers and won 14 face-offs.
The Owls go from facing one of the bottom teams in the Heart standings to hosting the reigning conference champion, No. 10 William Penn University (4-3, 3-0 Heart) at 2 p.m. Saturday.
