Oberlin, OH – The Oberlin College men's lacrosse team jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 21-10 win over the Thiel Tomcats on Saturday afternoon at Dick Bailey Field.
 
Tom Decker led all scorers with seven goals to go along with two assists for nine points. Joey Edell and Ryan Blasberg added three goals apiece while Griffin Cappelletti recorded two goals and three assists for a five-point afternoon.
 
Alex Dovichi kicked off the scoring barrage for the Yeomen with his marker at the 8:41 mark of the first quarter on an assist from Max Cha. Decker and Thomas Berle Carman would each add tallies of their own as Oberlin held a 3-0 advantage after the first 15 minutes of play.
 
Edell netted a pair of goals in the opening minutes of the second, the latter being set up by Michael Muldoon, to push the score to 5-0 before Muldoon scored one of his own 14 seconds later to give the Yeomen a 6-0 lead at the 12:08 mark of the second quarter.
 
The Tomcats got on the board a couple of minutes later but their momentum was short-lived as a pair of man-up markers from Cappelletti and Regan Chasney gave Oberlin a seven-goal advantage, 8-1, with 4:26 to go until halftime.
 
Thiel added a pair of goals in the final two minutes of the half, the second one via an extra man opportunity, to cut into the deficit but it still trailed by five, 8-3, at the break.
 
With the score sitting at 9-4 in the early moments of the third quarter, Decker scored three consecutive goals to build the Oberlin lead out to eight at 12-4. After the Tomcats responded with the next two goals to trim the margin to 12-6, the Yeomen closed the frame by doubling up Thiel 6-3 to hold a 18-9 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
 
Blasberg recorded his second tally of the contest in the opening minute of the fourth before Matthew Barry and Decker piled on two more tallies on the way to a 21-9 Oberlin victory.
 
The Yeomen bombarded the Tomcats with 67 shots compared to just 27 from Thiel attackers thanks in part to holding a 26-9 advantage in the face-off X. Oberlin was also careful with the ball as it committed 13 less turnovers than their opponents while also winning 23 more ground balls (53-30) than Thiel.
 
Oberlin will hit the road next Saturday, February 29 when it travel to Albion for a 12:00 p.m. game.