Outlook: The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team (9-7, 5-3 North Coast Athletic Conference) is making its second straight and sixth overall appearance in the four-team NCAC Tournament, which started in 2013. Wooster is the three seed for this week's tournament after winning the three-way tiebreaker over Kenyon College and Oberlin College. Wooster is headed to second-seeded Denison University (12-5, 7-1 NCAC) for a 4 p.m. semifinal on Wednesday, April 30. The winner plays the winner of the semifinal between top-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University (13-3, 8-0 NCAC) and fourth-seeded Oberlin College (11-4, 5-3 NCAC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 3 at the highest advancing seed's home field.
Media Coverage: Denison will provide a livestream and live stats of Wednesday's semifinal contest.
Ticket Information: Per NCAC policy, admission is charged for NCAC Tournament contests. For lacrosse, ticket prices are $7 for adults (includes seniors), and $3 for children and college students without a student ID card from a NCAC institution. Students from all nine NCAC institutions are admitted free, but must show their student ID card at the ticket table.
NCAC Tournament History: Wooster is making its sixth appearance in the NCAC Tournament since its inception in 2013. Wooster is still in search of its first NCAC Tournament win. Wooster is playing as the No. 3 seed for the second time. Wooster was last seeded third in 2013. This is the fifth time Wooster and Denison will meet in the semifinals. The 2013 appearance is the only time Wooster did not play Denison in the semifinal.
A Look at Last Year's Semifinal: Wooster lost 14-4 to Denison in last year's semifinal. Alumnus Paul Chandler capped his career with 14 saves. Alumnus Ben Byars' goal with 6:20 remaining gave him 100 points for his career. Alumnus Casey Steffen caused two turnovers to end his career with 193.
Mr. 200: Junior Lane Kellogg (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) became the Scots' fifth player with 200 points in Saturday's 12-6 win over Wabash College. Kellogg ranks behind the 256 points tallied by Jim Applegate (1982-85), the 248 by Steve Davidow (1988-92), the 226 by Vinny DiLeo (2021-24), and the 206 by Tom Bennett (1990-93). Kellogg became the program's 10th 100-goal scorer this season and is up to sixth on the program's top-10 list. He will move up to fifth with his next goal. Kellogg needs one goal to become the third Scot in program history to have multiple seasons with at least 41 goals.
That's 100: Head coach Eric Seideman scored his 100th victory with Friday's 22-1 victory over Hiram College. He is 33-18 since taking over Wooster's program in 2022.
70 Times Two: For just the fourth time since groundballs became an official NCAA statistic in 1999 two Wooster players have at least 70 in a season. First-year Domenic Cuda's (Latrobe, Pa./The Kiski School) 76 leads the team, while senior Rory Zahren (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) is right behind with 72. As a team, Wooster ranks 75th nationally with 35.56 groundballs per game.
Caused Turnover Machines: Senior Bill Holtzer (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) and Cuda each have 35 caused turnovers this spring, which are tied for the sixth-most in single-season history. Holtzer's next caused turnover will be a career-high. He is at 88 career caused turnovers, which are the fifth-most in program history. Cuda and Holtzer are second and third in the NCAC in caused turnovers per game.
Top-5 Winner: Zahren's 56.1 faceoff winning percentage (361-of-644) is the fourth-best in program history. He is looking to cap his career with alumnus Jimmy Fisher to give the Scots two with at least a 56 percent win rate in the last decade.
Stop It: Wooster has graduated some of its top goalkeepers in recent years, leading to opportunities for newcomers to step in and thrive. That has been the case for first-year Case Lowery (Avon, Ohio/Avon), who won the starting job and has a near-50 percent save percentage. Lowery is three saves shy of 150 in his debut season and sports a sub-11.00 goals-against average.
