To find some warm weather and a playing field without snow, the Penn College Lacrosse Club headed to comparably balmy Baltimore this past weekend to take on Division I nationally ranked No. 7 Towson University and Morgan State University.
Towson is the only Division I opponent that the Division II Wildcats would face all year, but coach Lou Allen said it did not faze the Wildcats as they came out strong and took a 1-0 lead when attack man Rafael Correa fed midfielder Derrike Kulp for the score. But that would be all the scoring against a powerful Towson team.
"The defense – led by Drew Baugus, Mike Betz, and Mike McCrary – played well and, at the end of three quarters, the Wildcats were only down 4-1," Allen said. "But three late goals by Towson made the final 7-1. Jayson Yorston had a very good game as goalie and made 10 saves. Overall, the team played extremely well against a perennial powerhouse in the National College Lacrosse League."
The second game against Morgan State ended in an 8-3 victory for Penn College.
Scoring started almost immediately: The first time the Wildcats had the ball, Andrew Zimmer fed Correa for a goal. Zimmer finished with two goals and two assists; Correa had one goal and two assists. Evan Aiegeldinger had two goals, and Kulp, Sam Dalley and Dan Pulinski each had one. Yorston had six saves between the pipes.
"The score does not reflect how dominating Penn College was this game," the coach said. "Numerous shots were taken and the MSU goalie stopped quite a few of them."
Nick Judge led the team in getting ground balls, and defensive standouts were Chad Gurney, Gary Kluk, Jason Tulley, Giuseppe Deluca, John Atanasio, Tom Hall, Alex Roese and Jeff Bassler.
"For the first time being outside to play lacrosse, the Wildcats did themselves proud," Allen noted. "Because of Penn College’s fine performance, the school has been given consideration for a national ranking. Although not in the top 25, the team received enough votes to be in the 27th position." Rankings can be viewed at the NCLL website.
The next game will be Sunday, March 23, when the team travels to Moravian College to play Penn State Berks and the No. 13-ranked host team.
Towson is the only Division I opponent that the Division II Wildcats would face all year, but coach Lou Allen said it did not faze the Wildcats as they came out strong and took a 1-0 lead when attack man Rafael Correa fed midfielder Derrike Kulp for the score. But that would be all the scoring against a powerful Towson team.
"The defense – led by Drew Baugus, Mike Betz, and Mike McCrary – played well and, at the end of three quarters, the Wildcats were only down 4-1," Allen said. "But three late goals by Towson made the final 7-1. Jayson Yorston had a very good game as goalie and made 10 saves. Overall, the team played extremely well against a perennial powerhouse in the National College Lacrosse League."
The second game against Morgan State ended in an 8-3 victory for Penn College.
Scoring started almost immediately: The first time the Wildcats had the ball, Andrew Zimmer fed Correa for a goal. Zimmer finished with two goals and two assists; Correa had one goal and two assists. Evan Aiegeldinger had two goals, and Kulp, Sam Dalley and Dan Pulinski each had one. Yorston had six saves between the pipes.
"The score does not reflect how dominating Penn College was this game," the coach said. "Numerous shots were taken and the MSU goalie stopped quite a few of them."
Nick Judge led the team in getting ground balls, and defensive standouts were Chad Gurney, Gary Kluk, Jason Tulley, Giuseppe Deluca, John Atanasio, Tom Hall, Alex Roese and Jeff Bassler.
"For the first time being outside to play lacrosse, the Wildcats did themselves proud," Allen noted. "Because of Penn College’s fine performance, the school has been given consideration for a national ranking. Although not in the top 25, the team received enough votes to be in the 27th position." Rankings can be viewed at the NCLL website.
The next game will be Sunday, March 23, when the team travels to Moravian College to play Penn State Berks and the No. 13-ranked host team.