DEARBORN, Mich. – The Alma College baseball men's lacrosse team opened their 2024 season up on Saturday, February 10th, against NAIA competitor University of Michigan-Dearborn. The Scots fought with the Wolverines throughout the game, but were defeated by a final score of 18-8.
In his first collegiate game, Nico Candela opened up the season scoring first for the Scots one minute into the game putting Alma up 1-0. UM-Dearborn responded with the next two goals to claim their first lead of the game. Candela scored his second in a row just over 40 seconds after the second Wolverine goal to tie the game with three minutes left in the quarter. After the first quarter ended deadlocked at 2-2, UM-Dearborn tagged on two more goals to regain the lead and try to pull away from the Scots. Freshman Lucas Storm brought the Scots back within one with his first career collegiate goal just several minutes later, though the Wolverines again would score two more following the Alma goal. Candela tabbed his third of the game with under ten seconds left in the half, bringing the score to 6-4 as Alma looked to regroup during the half.
MJ Humphries opened the scoring in the second half off a feed from Candela, bringing the Scots within one once again. The Wolverines responded shortly after and added some insurance goals this time around. UM-Dearborn scored four unanswered goals before Alma was able to get back on the board as Candela scored his fourth in his first showing in maroon and tartan. The Wolverines responded with a stretch of unanswered goals to pull the game farther away from the Scots reach. Alma would score again in the final minutes of the fourth as Candela found the back of the net from a pass by Kevin Koenn. In the final minute, Storm scored his second of the game, though the time would run out and the Scots would drop the season opener on the road.
Thomas Burns started between the pipes for the Scots and made 15 stops in the game. Dylan Smith and Storm both collected four ground balls in the game while Patrick Hodges, Jackson Pollard, Storm, and Burns all recorded a caused turnover in the game.
Alma will return to action on Saturday, February 17th, as they will travel over state lines to Ohio to take on Franciscan University. The game is set to start at 1:00 PM.
