The Delaware Valley College Aggies came to Elizabethtown College on Wednesday afternoon to face the Blue Jays in just their third game of their season program. “We were expecting them to come out confident and ready to play hard,” junior captain Jake Snyder said. The Aggies came in to the game undefeated after winning their first two games. The Blue Jays overwhelmed the Aggies with 14 unanswered goals in the 14-1 victory for the Blue Jays improving their record to (4-2) and bringing their winning streak up to three.
The scoring began less than five minutes into the game with sophomore Cody Larkin, followed by four more goals for the Blue Jays in the first quarter. The other contributors for the Blue Jays were first-year Kevin Meakim, sophomore Mike Specht and senior Russel LeClair who added two goals.
The Blue Jays did not lay off the pressure in the second quarter firing 20 shots, their most in a quarter since last season. The Blue Jays were able to add five more goals to their lead, going into halftime the Jays led the Aggies 10-0. “With the way our team plays we expect guys to get good looks,” Snyder said.
The Jays added four more goals in the second half before the Aggies responded with a goal of their own.
There was a scary moment in the third quarter when starting goalie senior Chris Wenger went down when he was hit into his own goal. Sophomore Trey Yetter took his place in goal, stopping three shots.
The Blue Jays’ defense played strong and held the Aggies to just one goal and forced 15 turnovers, three of them forced by senior Jason Kelley. The Aggies had eight man-up opportunities in the game and the Jays’ defense was able to hold them off.
The Jays won 12 of the 19 faceoffs, senior David Latimore winning seven and sophomore Matt Rucci winning four.
LeClair led the game in points with five, tallying three goals and two assists. Specht and junior Jimmy Waters each added three points.
The game Saturday, March 14 against Susquehanna University was the first game for the Blue Jays in the Landmark Conference. Susquehanna was announced as the preseason favorite to win the conference and came to Etown undefeated, just beating No. 18 Franklin and Marshall College in double overtime Wednesday. “We’re very excited to play the defending Landmark Champs,” Snyder said.
The Blue Jays’ defense stepped up big in the Conference debut causing 11 turnovers, five of them caused by Matt Frey. The Blue Jays held the Crusaders to five goals in the big win for the Jays. The unbeaten Crusaders showed promise when they came back from a two goal deficit in the first quarter scoring three unanswered goals.
The second quarter was all Blue Jays adding two goals to take the lead. First-year Kevin Meakim scored the first from an assist from sophomore Joe Clark and then junior Steven Nutting adding in the second of the quarter with an assist from sophomore Luke Stephens. This gave the Blue Jays a 4-2 lead going into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Blue Jays were able to add two more goals early, but conceded late in the quarter. Going into the fourth it seemed that Susquehanna was going to have another late game comeback. The Blue Jays’ defense thought differently. The Crusaders turned the ball over six times and just managed three shots in the fourth quarter.
With less than five minutes to go in the game Larkin was able to add in one more goal for the Blue Jays and close the door on the crusaders.
Meakim led the team with two goals. Conference leading goal scorer Clark was held to one goal and three assists.
Etown improved to 9-0 all-time against the Crusaders last time the teams met was in 2008.
Last night, the Blue Jays hosted nationally-ranked York (Pa.) College. The Spartans entered the game as the #20 team in the country and struck first, scoring the games first goal less than a minute into the game.
The Blue Jays tied the game at one less than a minute later on sophomore Nick Specht’s goal, his seventh of the season. After York regained the lead at 2-1, the Blue Jays went on to score eight straight goals to take a 9-2 lead over the Spartans. The scoring run was highlighted by LeClair’s five goal effort. LeClair finished his day with five goals and an assist, giving him 18 goals on the season. Clark and Mike Specht are the only other Blue Jays with double-digit goals this season.
Etown took an 8-2 lead into the half and never looked back, holding on for an 11-7 victory over the visiting Spartans. Mike Specht finished with a hat-trick and one assist, while Clark, Nick Specht and Snyder all scored one goal in the victory.
Wenger faced 17 shots on goal and made 10 saves to earn the win in net for the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays will travel to the University of Scranton on Saturday to face off against the Royals. Etown is 1-0 in Landmark Conference play this season and own a 6-2 record overall.
