The Southwestern Men's Lacrosse team capped off their weekend trip to the northeast with an electrifying overtime win against the McDaniel College Green Terror. In the process, the Men's Lacrosse team tied their previous regular-season win record at ten wins. The Pirates now have ten wins and three losses, hitting the ten-win mark for the first time since the program set the record in 2014.
The Pirates have had an excellent record on the road this season, accumulating a 6-1 record when traveling to opposing teams. Although each game has been challenging, the Pirates have found ways to edge out wins as they did in this matchup.
Jr. Tyler Johnson led off the scoring for the Pirates in what would be a back and forth quarter between the two teams. Each time one team scored, the other answered with a goal of their own. By the end of the first, it was all tied up at 3-3.
The Pirates took the advantage in the second quarter, scoring two goals and keeping the Green Terror at zero goals. Sr. Cody Foster had a goal after the first minute to give himself three points in the first half with two goals and an assist. Jr. Justin Macha scored a goal shortly after Foster to put the Pirates up 5-3 going into halftime. Twenty-one shots came from the Pirates in the second quarter, and it was evident they would need to increase their shooting percentage if they were going to score more goals.
In the third, the Pirates dialed in their shooting. The offense shot at 36 percent and captured four goals in the quarter while only turning the ball over only twice. But the Green Terror dialed up the pressure as well, only turning the ball over once in the quarter and putting up three goals to the Pirates' four. Going into the fourth quarter, the Pirates held a three-goal advantage of 9-6.
McDaniel came back from the three-goal deficit midway through the fourth quarter, cutting the Pirate lead to 9-8 with 7:51 left to go in the game. Cody Foster put the Pirates back up by two goals two minutes later, only for the Green Terror to score again, putting the lead back to only 10-9. A Nick Doxey goal extended the Pirates' lead by one more goal. Two goals by the Green Terror in the last minute and half, including a goal in the final three seconds, tied the game at 11-11, sending the contest into overtime.
Like death and taxes, it was inevitable that Hudson Bearden would win the overtime faceoff. After winning, Bearden took the ball down to his offensive end and dished it off to give the Pirate offense the first possession of overtime. Unfortunately, the Pirates could not penetrate the Green Terror defense, and a saved shot from Tyler Johnson allowed McDaniel possession. As luck would have it, McDaniel turned the ball over on an unforced error. The Pirates quickly banged the ball around, and a simple pass from Jack Doloszycki led to an eight-yard step-down rip from attackman Matt Caldwell, abruptly ending the chances for the Green Terror and giving the Pirates the 12-11 victory.
Men's Lacrosse will take on a tough opponent at home in the Colorado College Tigers. The Pirates play the Tigers at 1:00 PM on Saturday April 9th in their final regular season game of the season.
