Oberlin, Ohio – Punching their ticket to the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, the Oberlin College men's lacrosse team took down No. 4 Wooster on Wednesday night. The Yeomen avenged their regular season loss to the Fighting Scots with a dominant 13-7 win to move their record to 12-5.
Nicholas Cuda led the team in points with two goals and a trio of assists, while
Asher Friedman tallied a hat trick in the game with a team-best three goals.
"Going into this game we felt very confident that we could come away with a win." Junior Friedman said of the pregame mentality, "We were pretty frustrated about our loss to Wooster earlier in the season and we knew that if we played sharp we would win, and it feels great to help lead this team to our first NCAC Championship. The improvement we have had each year I have been here has been awesome to experience and as a team we feel like we are setting a new standard for what Oberlin Lacrosse can accomplish."
Cooper Zancosky and
Anders Burrows also added a pair of goals each, while another four Yeomen got in on the scoring.
Evan Sardina continued to dominate at the face-off winning 19-20 opportunities in the circle and 19 ground balls.
In cage, rookie
Nolan Grieshaber made sevens saves to anchor the defense, while Cuda balanced the midfield with six ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.
Joe Chai's three caused turnovers led the team.
Off the opening face-off, Wooster got on the board first after the Yeomen committed an early penalty. Zancosky responded immediately tying the game at 1-1.
Manolis Paragioudakis picked up a loose ball at the 9:38 mark, and swung it downfield to Starcke for the next goal.
Oberlin outscored the Fighting Scots 5-1 over the next 17 minutes of action, taking a strong 7-2 lead. After Wooster cut out another two goals, Friedman rolled the crease and snuck the ball past Casey Lowerey for Oberlin's 8-4 lead. Before the half ended,
Cooper Rand picked up a loose ball on Oberlin's offensive end. Left unguarded, the first-year ripped a shot from 30 yards away and scorched the back of the net to grab a 9-4 for Oberlin at halftime.
Wooster scored first in the third quarter, but
Solomon Brennan and
Andrew Rosa responded next to extend the Yeomen's lead. Up 11-7, the Crimson and Gold put the emphasis on the win with a shutout fourth quarter. Back-to-back goals from Burrows secured the victory for Oberlin, and send the Yeomen to their first NCAC Championship in program history.
"It was a great team win tonight. Everyone did their jobs and performed at a high level for a full 60 minutes." Head Coach
Ryan Polak said, "We're very excited to have more time with this group and prepare for a great opportunity Saturday. Big shout out to all who came out to support for making tonight an awesome experience for the team."
On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Ohio Wesleyan defeated No. 3 Denison, and will travel to northeast for the conference final. As the higher, No. 1 seed, the Crimson and Gold are set to host the NCAC Tournament Championship this Saturday, May 2, at 7 p.m.
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