WOOSTER, Ohio – A flat-out dominant first quarter paved the way for The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team's 12-6 win over Wabash College on senior day at John P. Papp Stadium.
Wooster concludes the regular season at 9-7 and 5-3 within the North Coast Athletic Conference and has earned the tiebreaker for the third seed in the three-way tie between Wooster, Kenyon College, and Oberlin College. Wooster will play at second-seeded Denison University in the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30.
Wooster did not allow a Wabash (8-8, 1-6 NCAC) shot until just 23 seconds remained in the first quarter. The Little Giants had nine turnovers at that point and were 0-for-5 on clears. Junior Lane Kellogg sparked the early defense, knocking the ball from Wabash's Will Sorg. First-year Domenic Cuda cleaned up the groundball.
Another of Wabash's first-quarter turnovers came early in transition. First-year Jack Holub caused the turnover, leading to senior Bill Holtzer scooping up the groundball. Senior Will Fink made it 2-0 with his 16th goal of the season.
Holub had two of Wooster's first-quarter goals, giving him 26 on the year. Senior Riley Schulze made Wooster's lead 6-0 before Wabash's Charlie Rafalko scored the Little Giants' first goal of the game with 12:37 left in the second.
Wooster strung together a 4-0 run starting with Fink's Scot-up goal with 5:22 left in the second. The senior All-American scored again before halftime, while Holub tacked on two more scores in the third. Both Fink and Holub tied for the team-lead with four goals.
Kellogg had a productive day as both a facilitator and scorer. He passed out three assists and scored twice to surpass 200 career points. He is the fifth player in program history to surpass 200 career points and it is the first time since 1992 and 1993 seasons where Scots have surpassed 200 career points in consecutive years.
Cuda was very productive on the defensive side, cleaning up 10 groundballs and causing four turnovers. Holtzer was the overall leader in groundballs at 10. First-year Case Lowery made 13 saves for his eighth double-digit save performance of the season.
Jake Pippen scored three goals to lead Wabash and Quinn Fitzgerald passed out three assists. Luka DiFilippo won 11 faceoffs and cleaned up a team-leading eight groundballs. Colin Krekeleer made 14 saves and Eli Backus caused four turnovers.
Wooster outshot Wabash 41-30, while the Scots had 48 groundballs to 31 for the Little Giants. Wabash had 29 turnovers and was 12-of-22 on clears. Wooster finished 24-of-28 on clears.
