Men's Club Lacrosse Team Beats Two Nationally Ranked Opponents

This past week was the biggest in history for the Pennsylvania College of Technology men's club lacrosse squad, which faced four nationally ranked teams in as many days.

In the first game Thursday, the Wildcats jumped out to a 11-5 halftime lead against local rival and #27-ranked Lock Haven University, and held on to win 11-9. The victory marked the first time Penn College defeated a nationally ranked team.



Things did not turn out so well Saturday, as the team lost 6-3 to  No. 22-ranked East Stroudsburg University, or in a Sunday loss to  No. 13 Moravian College.

"Last year, Moravian made it to the (National Collegiate Lacrosse League) Division II Championships Final Four and it showed as the Greyhounds beat up on the Wildcats, 12-4," Penn College coach Lou Allen said. "But the Wildcats held their heads high as they played well against a superior team."

In Sunday's second game, against Dickinson College - ranked sixth in the nation – "the team played its best of the season and trailed after three quarters by only 5-4," Allen said. "Then the team turned it on, scoring three unanswered goals to beat Dickinson 7-5 and cement its second win against a ranked opponent in four days."

The coach said the team was led by the goaltending of Addison Bond and Brad Speer, as well as superb defense by Jeff Foley, Kyle Parkins, Mike Leventhal and Drew Bangus. Offensively, the team was led by Dan Kramer's eight goals and three assists, aided by Andrew Zimmer (five goals), Dareen Corson (three goals, three assists), Nick Judge (three goals, two assists), Jake Reidenauer and Derrick Kulp (two goals each), and Giuseppe Deluca and Jon Dieter (one goal each). Doing "yeoman's work" in the midfield, Allen noted, were Tom Hall, Logan Blouch and Mike McCrary; Andrew Rossi and Jahmas Hamilton won the majority of faceoffs.

For all of its hard work and effort, the Penn College team even received votes for Monday's latest NCLL Warrior Division II Top 25 rankings.

"Although not in the top 25 teams in the country, they were 32nd in votes," the coach said. "Not a bad improvement for a team that had 12 players and no wins last year. The team will have to keep working hard to maintain that honor."

The next game is a home game against Bucknell University at 7 p.m. April 12.

"If you have never watched a lacrosse game before, come one out and give it a try," Allen said. "You will be amazed and excited by what you see."