WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Alma College men's lacrosse team made history on a sunny afternoon on Saturday, March 1st, as they became the first team in program history to start a season 5-0. The Scots faced off against Wilmington College and came away with a spring break sweep, closing out the trip with a 13-7 win over the Quakers.
Unlike the past two games, the Scots struck first off of a goal from Dylan Smith with an assist coming from Kevin Koenn, just under three minutes into action. MJ Humphreys would be the next goal scorer in the contest as he found the back of the net on a pass from Ayden Hibdon just three minutes later. The Quakers offense woke up shortly after though as Wilmington would score the next goal man-up which was then followed b y a goal man-down to tie the game. Smith would put the Scots back up one with five minutes left in the first quarter, which was the final marker of the first frame.
Wilmington scored the first goal of the second, two minutes in, which tied the game at 3-3. Lucas Storm broke the tie in favor of Alma with a tally, followed by Koenn scoring his first of the game, with an assist from Smith. The Quakers kept fighting and got back within one with three minutes left in the half, but the Scots wanted insurance heading into halftime. Storm added the insurance marker with two minutes remaining in the half, bring the halftime score to 6-4 in favor of Alma.
The Quakers opened up the scoring in the third on a man-up opportunity, but Alma answered back quickly. Smith would score the next two goals within a minute of each other as Cole Pearson would set him up for the first and Koenn was able to tee him up for the second, putting the Scots up three. Wilmington would rebuttal with a solo goal around the five-minute mark, but the end of the third proved to be all the visiting team. Humphreys would score two of the final three goals of the quarter with Storm scoring the middle, as Curtis Pleiness, Smith and Koenn would assist the goals.
The Scots would score two more goals in the fourth quarter, with both of them being man-up. Jacob Kluk scored the opening goal of the quarter with an assist from Storm, and Pearson would score the final goal of the game as Wilmington would add one in between and bring the final score to 13-7 in favor of the Scots.
Smith led the charge for Alma with six points on four goals and two assists. Storm followed behind with five points, three of which were goals and two assists. Patrick Hodges scooped up a game-high eight ground balls, while also leading the team with two caused turnovers. Preston Stelljes made eight saves in the win and moves to 5-0 on the season.
Alma will look to continue their streak as they look towards their updated home-opener on Wednesday, March 5th, on Bahlke Field. Game time for the midweek contest against Heidelberg University is set for 4:00 PM.
