Aleksi Pelkonen
Sports Editor
The College of Wooster Fighting Scots men’s lacrosse team has started conference play undefeated, winning the first three of what will be eight North Coast Athletic Conference matchups. The Scots now have an overall record of 7-5.
The Fighting Scots started conference play against Wabash University. Wooster won the game 20-7 at home. The Scots were led offensively by attackman Alex Bloom ’17 with four goals on six shots. Midfielder Matt Parmelee ’17 chipped in three goals, while Sam Kuhn ’18, CJ Polak ’17, Ian Brim ’18 and Josh Herold ’17 each added two goals apiece. Defensively, midfielder Cullen Kuhn ’20 led the way for the Scots with 10 groundballs, while long-stick midfielder Jack Gilio ’18 and Sam Delano ’19 each forced three turnovers. Goalie Wesley Wagner ’20 saved seven of 13 Wabash shots.
The Scots continued their conference campaign by storming past Hiram College, 21-9. The Scots were led in the goalscoring department by Parmelee with four goals, while Bloom added three of his own. Gilio scooped up six groundballs and caused five turnovers. Marco Pettica ’20 stopped seven of 14 Hiram shots.
The Scots then took their conference action on the road to Oberlin College. With five goals from Parmelee and three from Sam Kuhn, the Scots ended on top, 13-8. Gilio was once again the Scots’ defensive leader, with six groundballs and three caused turnovers. Wagner was stellar in net once again, stopping 15 of 23 Yeomen shots. Parmelee was named the conference player of the week for his effort against Oberlin.
After their first three conference games, the Scots sit second in the NCAC, just behind conference powerhouse Ohio Wesleyan University.
The Scots started the season slowly, losing three of their first four games. However, they have picked up their play recently. In addition to being undefeated in conference, the Scots have gone 6-2 since their early season slump. Crucial for the Scots this season has been strong home form; Wooster is undefeated when playing at John P. Papp Stadium.
“Some improvements that we have made over the course of the year have been consistency and communication,” Polak said. “The key has been the consistency of solid play on both ends of the field that we did not have earlier in the season.”
Sam Kuhn highlighted the early season loss to McDaniel College as a pivotal point in the season.
“When we got tripped up at McDaniel, we added a new offense that we have been using pretty frequently,” he said. “It lets the midfielders dodge the short-stick defensemen all game long, which Parmelee, Brim and I have really benefitted from.”
The Scots now have five games remaining in the regular season, with the latter half of the conference schedule presenting challenging opponents, including perennial powerhouses OWU and Denison University. The Scots will play Kenyon College in Gambier, Oh. on April 4, after press time. If they are able to win that game, the Scots will be poised to punch their ticket for another trip to the conference tournament in late April.
“We have the talent and work ethic to do it,” Polak said. “Now we just need to extract that out of every person on the team. The final stretch of the season should be a fun one.”