The Elizabethtown College Men’s Lacrosse Team won its season-opener against the United States Merchant Marine Academy at home this past Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays built a 4-0 halftime lead and scored five fourth-quarter goals to win 10-4.
The win is the first under new head coach Drew Delaney. Etown (1-0) had two-score games from junior Russell LeClair, sophomore Jimmy Waters and first-years Jason Clough and Nick Specht. Senior captain Craig Hunsberger and first-year Mike Specht also tacked on goals in the six-goal victory.
The Jays played a solid first half, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the opening seven minutes. The Jays scored one more goal with seconds left in the first quarter to make it 3-0. They then went up 4-0 midway through the second quarter. Junior goalie Chris Wenger stopped the six Mariner shots that came his way before halftime.
The Mariners got onto the scoreboard in the third quarter with a goal from Phil Walker but was answered by Hunsberger later in the period. Etown pulled away in the fourth quarter, scoring five of its ten goals.
Etown outshot Merchant Marine 36-26 and converted 90 percent of its clears (18-of-20) in the win. First-year Matt Rucci won 8 of 14 face-offs for an Etown team that held an 11-7 advantage at the circle on the afternoon. The Blue Jay defense hounded Merchant Marine’s attackmen all afternoon, resulting in 26 Mariner turnovers. 11 were caused by Etown, including three from Nick Specht and two each from the starting defense of juniors Matt Frey and Jason Kelley and sophomore Jake Snyder.
Coach Delaney was slightly uncertain about many factors going into the game. “With all the snow and ice on campus, we were only able to get out on a field six times over the course of a month. We lost out on our pre-season scrimmage, so we really lacked in-game experience,” he said. However, he believes that the coaching staff used “creative ways in preparing the team” and “was very pleased with the win.”
Hunsberger thought that the home opener was a success for the Jays, saying that the team “played as a cohesive unit. The defense played great, giving the offense many chances to score.”
Next week’s game is against Neumann University. It marks the first of four consecutive away games for the Blue Jays, and Delaney is looking to use the opener to the team’s advantage. “Saturday’s game will serve us in a lot of ways,” he said. “The film will be a great teaching tool to reinforce some of the concepts the staff has introduced. But I also think the win validates to the players all the work and preparation that went into the preseason. Hopefully, it will also illustrate how important that preparation is for every opponent we will face.”
The Blue Jays look to continue their season this Saturday at Neumann University in Aston, Pa. This second of three non-conference games is a warm-up for their match against No.1-ranked Stevenson on March 12.
