ALMA, Mich. – The Alma College men's lacrosse team hosted their final non-conference game at Bahlke Field on Saturday, March 23rd. The Scots honored their seniors before the game and were able to give them a win on their day as the Scots defeated Anderson University by a final score of 15-7.
The Scots were able to score the first three goals of the game, starting with Cole Pearson opening up the scoring. Dylan Smith gave Alma their second tally of the game just under two minutes later with an assist coming from Kevin Koenn. Smith scored his second consecutive just two minutes later to put Alma up 3-0 before Anderson was able to put themselves on the board. The Ravens scored their first with four minutes remaining in the first quarter, cutting their deficit to two. Lucas Storm scored the final goal of the first frame with two minutes left and gave Alma a 4-1 lead heading into the second.
The Ravens were able to cut their deficit in half to open the quarter, but the Scots were able to respond swiftly. MJ Humphreys made a cut towards the net just ten seconds following the Anderson goal and Koenn found him cutting for Alma's fifth goal of the game. Shortly after, following a Raven turnover, Jacob Kluk found himself as a defender carrying the ball downfield and left open where he fired a shot on net and scored his first goal of the season. Anderson looked to stop the bleeding with a goal of their own to bring themselves within three, before Alma would put together another offensive run. A minute following the Anderson goal, Drew Gulick put Alma up by four after he found the back of the net. Just minutes later, Koenn tallied his first of the game on a pass from Lucas Storm, bringing the score to 8-3. Storm then found the back of the net for himself as he was able to give Alma their ninth goal just 22 seconds after the Koenn goal. The Ravens scored their final goal of the half with just over five minutes remaining giving them their fourth. Alma rounded out the scoring in the second as Koenn tallied his second on the day as Drew Gulick found him open, putting the ball behind the goalie and giving the Scots a 10-4 lead.
The Scots were able to rattle off three goals in the third quarter and Storm, Koenn, and Humpreys scored one each, and held the Ravens off the board for the 15 minutes. Anderson scored their first of the half in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Scots had an answer less than two minutes later. Gulick scored around the 11-minute mark to give Alma their 14th of the game, before Koenn finished the Scots scoring and scored the his fourth of the game. Anderson would score the final two goals of the game, but it would prove to be not enough as the Scots were able to hear the final buzzer and record their first win on the season and with first-year head coach Zach Cameron at the helm.
Leading the offense was Koenn, who scored four goals and notched two assists. Gulick and Storm each recorded four points as Gulick had three goals and a helper and Storm split two and two. Dylan Smith led the Scots with six ground balls and Cole Pearson helped the offense gain more possessions as he was able to record three caused turnovers.
Thomas Burns started in net for Alma and collected the win, making five saves. Preston Stelljes came in during the fourth and recorded one stop.
Alma will now look towards their conference season after a short break. The Scots will host the hornets of Kalamazoo College on Saturday, April 6th, for their LaCROSSe Out Cancer game. The men will faceoff at 1:00 PM.
