ANDERSON, Ind. – The Alma College men's lacrosse team opened up their spring break slate of games on Saturday February 22nd, as they traveled to Anderson University in Indiana. The Scots were down early but fought back and came away with a win to move to 2-0 for the first time since 2017.
Opening up the game, Anderson would break the ice and notch the first goal just over six minutes in. The Ravens would tack on another just four minutes later, outing Alma down 2-0, late in the first quarter. Dylan Smith broke through for the Scots to cut the Ravens lead in half moving towards the second quarter. Just about two minutes in the new frame, Kevin Koenn received a pass from Cole Pearson that set him up to find the back of the net and tie the game at twos apiece. Keeping the momentum, the Scots scored the next goal as well as MJ Humphreys drove the net and found the twine, giving Alma their first lead of the contest. Anderson snapped back rather quickly as two goals from the Ravens in the final five minutes of the half gave Anderson a lead heading into halftime, a scene the men's lacrosse team had not been in this season.
After a short break and a locker room message, Alma came out at halftime and took control of the game, scoring five unanswered goals, four of which came in the first seven minutes of the third quarter. Smith would score the first of the half, giving him his second of the game, followed by Jacob Kluk who scored on an assist by Koenn. Humphreys then notched his second of the game with another assist by Koenn, leading to Lucas Storm joining the score sheet around the eight-minute mark. Smith would score the final Alma goal of the third frame as once against Koenn would set up his teammate for a goal to put the Scots up by four in the final minutes of the third. Anderson would not go away easy though as the Ravens added a goal in the final minutes of the third and another less than a minute into the fourth to bring the lead within two. Humphreys would put the game away for the Scots as Cole Pearson would set him up with just under four minutes remaining as his goal would put Alma up three, before another goal from Humphreys just over 40 seconds later would seal the deal and give Alma their second consecutive win.
Koenn and Humphreys led the Scots in points with four, all of which were assists and goals to each, respectively. Smith led the Scots in ground balls with seven as well as Pearson leading the team with four caused turnovers, tying for a game-high. Preston Stelljes was between the pipes for the Scots, making eight saves and collecting his second career win.
Alma will return to action on the road on Tuesday, February 25th, as they will travel to Ohio to face off against Hiram College. Game time is set for 7:00 PM.
