The men’s lacrosse team was dominant on their way to a 17-8 victory over two-win Hiram College which set a program record for wins in a season.
Hiram’s Nick Rollason opened the game with a goal just 54 seconds into the contest, and the Terriers held their 1-0 lead for an additional ten minutes. Senior Sam Alkema tied the game up with a goal with 5:57 remaining in the opening quarter. Sophomore Steen Jorgenson followed up DePauw’s goal by scoring two more to increase their lead to 4-1. Junior Jack Gomez says the team came out flat and gave up the opening goal, but bounced back quickly after they settled into the game.
“We came out a little too confident giving Hiram a goal within the first minute of the game,” Gomez said. “That was a little bit of a wake up call and got everyone to slow down and really focus on our aspect of the game. The seniors did a great job of leading the team and getting the confidence back in everyone.”
Just like the first quarter, Hiram opened the second quarter with a quick goal with 10:34 remaining. Junior Ben Sherman and sophomore William Dorger each scored goals to make the score 6-2. Hiram’s Evan Pinney was able to end the Tigers’ momentum by closing out the half with two straight goals making the score 6-4.
The third quarter was controlled by the Tigers. Dorger and Jorgenson each scored two goals apiece, and Sherman also added one. After surrendering two goals in the process, the score was 11-6 heading into the final period.
After Sherman scored his third goal of the game to start the fourth quarter, Hiram made one last push as they scored two goals by Rollason and Hunter Jenkins. Senior Nick Woerner, first-year Jack Richey, sophomore Lewis Andrews and Jorgenson closed out the game with four goals to put away the Terriers.
First-year goalie Charlie Robson stopped ten goals for the Tigers, and senior Connor Patterson saved two. DePauw held the total shot advantage 56-26.
DePauw edged out Hiram 30-23 in ground balls as sophomore Joe Garvey led the way with seven. The Tigers controlled more faceoffs and committed less turnovers than the Terriers.
The win was the seventh on the year which is the most wins in DePauw men’s lacrosse history. Gomez says the team was proud to make history.
“With that win we set the program record for most wins in a season,” Gomez said. “So the team was in good spirits after the game.”
Gomez says if the team wants to make the next jump in their overall improvement, they need to play well from start to finish.
“If we as a team want to compete with the top teams in our conference,” Gomez said. “We need to start playing all four quarters rather than slacking off and only playing three out of the four quarters.”
The men improved their record to 7-5 overall and 2-4 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. The team is back in action on Saturday as they travel to Oberlin College for a 1 p.m. matchup.