STUBENVILLE, Ohio – The Alma College men's lacrosse team hit the road for the second straight week as they traveled across state lines to Ohio for a matchup against Franciscan University on Saturday, February 17th. The Scots fought throughout the game though and hung tight with the Barons but were defeated by a final score of 10-8.
The Barons opened the scoring in the first minute of the game as Alma trailed early. The Barons tagged in two more in the first ten minutes to start to pull away from the Scots before Alma got the offense kicking. With just over a minute left in the first quarter, Kevin Koenn was able to find the back of the net and give Alma their first score of the contest. Alma was able to bring the deficit to one early in the second quarter as MJ Humphreys found an open lane from a pass by Drew Gulick and cut the Baron lead in half. After being held scoreless since the six-minute mark of the first quarter, Franciscan was able to get back on the board and then tagged on another man-up to bring their lead back to three. The Scots responded shortly after as Dylan Smith scored off an assist by Koenn. Koenn added his second of the game with just under four minutes left in the second and again brought the Barons lead back down to one. Each team traded one more goal in the final minutes of the second quarter as Lucas Storm sent the Scots into halftime trailing by one, 6-5.
Franciscan opened the third quarter with two quick goals to take another three-goal lead but again the Scots battled through the deficit. Storm collected his second of the game with about two minutes remaining in the quarter, bringing the Scots within two. Just 40 seconds later and with a man advantage, Cole Pearson was able to find Dylan Smith open and Smith capitalized putting the Scots down one heading into the final 15 minutes. The Barons opened the fourth with a goal and added an additional goal with just under two minutes left, putting the Scots down three with little time. Alma attempted to make a last-minute push as Storm collected his third of the game with 51 seconds remaining, but that would be as close as the Scots would get for the afternoon.
Storm, the freshman, led the Scots in goals for the evening as Koenn would lead the team in points with two goals and a helper. Humpreys, Pearson, and Gulick recorded six ground balls each for the team high and Smith was able to cause three turnovers throughout the game. Thomas Burns got the nod for the start in net and made 11 saves for the game. Smith helped led the Scots to an advantage in face offs, collecting 10 of 18 for a team total of 13 of 22.
Alma will now look towards a midweek matchup with the Cardinals of Concordia University Ann Arbor on Wednesday, February 21st. The game is set for a 1:00 PM start time.
