OSKALOOSA — The William Penn men’s lacrosse team weathered its foe and a lightning delay as it won yet again, defeating Missouri Baptist 25-7 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Wednesday.
No. 6 WPU (10-1, 7-0 Heart), which pushed its winning streak to nine games, cruised past the Spartans (3-10, 2-5 Heart) courtesy of a 59-28 advantage in shots.
The opening segment of the contest actually favored MBU as it scored the first goal just 1:18 into the game. WPU answered just four seconds later, however, as Harley Williams (Sr., Edmonton, Alberta, Political Science) beat the opposing goalkeeper off a pass from Bryce Campbell (Sr., Meridian, Idaho, Kinesiology).
Led by three winners by Kenny Bohney (Sr., Moorhead, Minn., Exercise Science), six additional Statesmen scores were recorded in the first 15 minutes as the hosts led 7-2 entering the second stanza.
Everett Breniser (So., Centennial, Colo., Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) found the back of the net with help from Nate Levy (So., Lynwood, Wash., Biology) to open the second-quarter scoring, but the visitors responded with back-to-back tallies to pull within four at 8-4.
That was fortunately the closest Missouri Baptist would get as William Penn managed 10 unanswered goals, including four in the final 82 seconds of the first half.
Blake Cyboron (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Industrial Technology), off a pass from Garrett Katrana (So., Parker, Colo., Industrial Technology), started the latter 30 minutes with a goal, and then the heavens opened, forcing the teams and fans to safety for well over an hour and a half for a lightning delay that included a severe thunderstorm warning.
The stoppage did little to affect the game, though. When play resumed, WPU outscored MBU 5-1 over the remainder of the third period. Third-quarter scores came from six different players in a win that featured nine individuals enjoying their own goal celebration.
Matt Scott (Fr., Denver, Colo., Sports Management), who ended the long night tying for the team lead in goals with five (one assist as well), tacked on two in the waning minutes to complete the victory.
Bohney matched Scott with five goals and one assist, while Katrana guided the Statesmen with nine points on three goals and six assists. Breniser finished with six points (four goals, two assists), and Levy had four (two goals, two assists).
Cyboron (two goals), Williams (two goals), and Lucas Cox (Fr., Memphis, Tenn., Kinesiology) (one goal, one assist) were all part of two scores each.
William Penn netted a 36-25 edge in ground balls with Campbell tallying 10 and Cox adding eight. Campbell was also proficient at the faceoff line at 20-for-28, while the navy and gold finished with 24 wins in 37 chances.
The Statesmen committed just 14 turnovers (17 for MBU), while the victors were also a perfect 16-for-16 in clears (MBU was 12-for-16).
Connor Russell (Sr., Grand Haven, Mich., Applied Computer Science) notched nine saves as the last line of defense in Wednesday’s win.
“It was a long night with the weather delay, but the guys handled it well and put together a good game,” Head Coach Luke Christiansen said. “If we can maintain a humble and hungry mindset, we can accomplish some good things.”
