FREMONT, Neb, - William Woods Men's Lacrosse (6-7, 5-2 Heart) went on the road to play one of their final Heart conference opponents, Midland University (4-7, 2-5). The Owls stifled the Warriors attack, including a shut-out first half, on their way to a 15-3 victory, advancing WWU to fourth place in the Heart standings.
The initial faceoff fell in favor of the Woods after a violation by the opposition, and the Owls wasted no time taking advantage. Freshman
Collis Rhodes, one of three players to tally six points on a hat trick and three assists, found the back of the net first, less than 30 seconds into the contest. Then, however, the game would seem to settle for a little while, as both teams worked to find their footing. The next goal came with 5:44 left in the first period, in an extra-man opportunity, as Rhodes hit his second shot of the day, assisted by
Ethan NewMyer. The Owls would score twice more in the first, once by
Connor White, and once by NewMyer, assisted by Rhodes.
As with the first quarter, WWU wasted no time in the second to get rolling. After winning the faceoff, Midland was able to put a shot on goal, which was saved by
Zach Hearn. Woods was able to clear it quickly and find a shot themselves out of the pocket of freshman midfielder
Drew Longmeyer, who has scored in the last two games. In their next opportunity, Midland was turned over by
Xavier Dockery, and Rhodes snaked his way to the goal to solidify his hat trick. Dock himself scored the next WWU goal, unassisted, and the quarter was ended with another NewMyer goal from the hands of White, cementing the margin at 8-0 entering the break.
The Owls rattled off four more goals to begin the second half before Midland finally scored their first.
Jack Brackin from White, White from NewMyer, NewMyer from
Lyle Wiley, and
Emmet Mathis from Rhodes each scored within 10 minutes of each other to set the score at an insurmountable 12-0. The Warriors notched their first score late into the third to make it 12-1. In the fourth, it would be
Lyle Wiley, White, and
Jerry Swenson making the final scores in green. The Owls would leave Fremont with a 15-3 victory and another conference win under their belts.
Rhodes, NewMyer, and White each had quite the day, scoring three and assisting three.
Drew Hannam was a force in the faceoff circle, winning 13 of 21 and grabbing seven ground balls.
Chris Hanson scooped up six himself, and caused two turnovers.
Kyle Fischer led the squad in CT's with three, and Dockery, Robbins, and Loffer each added two as well.
Zach Hearn picked up the win in goal after a 60 minute, three goal, 13 save performance.
William Woods Men's Lacrosse is set to head to Dubuque, Iowa for a Heart conference game against Clarke University on Saturday, April 18th at 2 p.m.
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