OSKALOOSA — In a clash of conference titans, the No. 10 William Penn men’s lacrosse team clinched the Heart of America Regular Season Championship with a gritty 15-10 win over rival St. Ambrose Wednesday.
The Statesmen (10-3, 9-0 Heart) locked up the No. 1 seed for the Heart tournament and earned a first-round bye. They’ll face the winner of No. 4 Benedictine and No. 5 Columbia in next week’s semifinal at Statesmen Community Stadium.
Garrett Katrana (Fr., Parker, Colo., Industrial Technology) set the tone early, netting the game’s opening goal before the Fighting Bees (7-7, 7-2 Heart) quickly answered. Breck Putzier (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Exercise Science) responded with an unassisted goal at 6:59 to regain the lead. William Penn then built momentum behind goals from Blake Cyboron (Jr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Business Management), assisted by Katrana, and another from Katrana off a feed from Max Taylor (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Business Management). Taylor capped the explosive first quarter with a buzzer-beater goal, assisted by Katrana, to give the Statesmen a commanding 5-1 lead.
St. Ambrose clawed back with two goals, but a finish from Daniel McQuade (Sr., Tucson, Ariz., Political Science) slowed their charge. The Bees struck twice more to narrow the gap to 6-5, but the Statesmen regained control. Taylor scored off an assist from Nate Blasingame (Sr., Portland, Ore., Business Management), and Cyboron added another to send WPU into halftime with an 8-5 advantage.
SAU opened the second half with a goal, but Kenny Bohney (Jr., Moorhead, Minn., Exercise Science) answered quickly off a Katrana assist. After another St. Ambrose goal, the Statesmen took full control with a dominant 4-0 stretch. Putzier, Bohney, Everett Breniser (Fr., Centennial, Colo., Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management), and Putzier again all found the back of the net. The Bees closed the third quarter with a goal, but WPU still led 13-8.
St. Ambrose made a late push in the fourth with two early goals, but Katrana sealed the win with goals at 8:20 and 3:32, capping off a brilliant individual performance.
Katrana led all scorers with four goals and four assists. Putzier tallied three goals and one assist, while Bohney added two goals and two assists. Taylor and Cyboron each scored twice, and Breniser and McQuade chipped in with a goal apiece.
William Penn peppered the SAU defense with 62 shots, led by Putzier with 15 attempts and Breniser with 11.
The Statesmen dominated ground balls, 47-18, with Max Standage (Sr., Gilbert, Ariz., Business Management) scooping up nine. Bryce Campbell (Jr., Boise, Idaho) and Connor Russell (Jr., Grand Haven, Mich., Applied Computer Science) collected six and five ground balls, respectively. Campbell also shined at the faceoff dot, winning 17 of 23 draws.
WPU excelled in transition, converting 21 of 22 clear attempts, while the Bees struggled at 22-for-38.
“Part one done. Proud of the guys for accomplishing our first goal,” said Head Coach Luke Christiansen. “Now it’s time to finish the job.”
Up Next: William Penn will host the semifinal round of the Heart tournament next Wednesday, taking on the winner of the Benedictine-Columbia quarterfinal.
