EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley Men's Lacrosse team overcame a slow start and used a strong second half to earn a 15-9 road victory at Wilkes University on Saturday at Schmidt Stadium in Edwardsville.
 
The Dutchmen (3-2) won their third straight game and improved to 2-0 on the road to begin the year with the victory on Saturday. LVC also improved to 2-0 against the Landmark Conference. Wilkes (1-4) got out to a 3-0 lead with a trio of goals in the first six minutes of the game. Ethan Keenan scored his first goal of the game to put LVC on the scoreboard. The Dutchmen cut the deficit to one as Jacob Olson scored off an assist from Jake Bollinger with 6:36 on the clock. Wilkes responded with a man-up goal on the first penalty of the game to go up by two. John Lux nearly scored a couple minutes later as his shot hit the post and then Hayden Carling had his attempt saved. Neither team was able to score over the final five minutes of the quarter as Wilkes held a 4-2 lead after the first 15 minutes.
 
LVC came out and forced turnovers on the first two offensive possessions by the Colonels in the second quarter. They capitalized off the second as Lux scored to make it 4-3. The defense forced another turnover and once again capitalized as Bollinger tied the game up off an assist by Sean Poole. Wilkes had a quick response to retake the lead, and the Dutchmen called a timeout with 11:11 to go in the half. The Colonels held the Dutchmen off the board as Rowan Myers had a shot saved and then Trey Ralston hit the post. The Colonels scored a pair of back-to-back goals to increase the lead to 7-4 with 6:43 on the clock. The Dutchmen countered by scoring four goals and holding the Colonels scoreless the rest of the half to take an 8-7 lead. Lux found Bollinger for the first goal before Ralston assisted Keenan to make it a one-goal game. Bollinger tied things up with just over a minute left off an assist by Kennan. Wilkes had the ball with under a minute to play when Poole caused a failed clear attempt, grabbed the ground ball, and then scored with 37 seconds remaining to give LVC the lead for the first time.
 
The Dutchmen came out of the half and scored a little over a minute into the third quarter as Bollinger scored his fourth goal of the game off a pass by Ralston. The Colonels scored a little over a minute later to cut it back to a one-goal difference. LVC's defense held Wilkes scoreless for the rest of the period and the Dutchmen scored twice in the final five minutes to go up 11-8. Myers assisted Ralston for his first goal of the game with a little over three minutes to play and then Myers scored a goal off a pass from Carling in the final minute.
 
LVC put the game away with three goals in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Carling scored off an assist from Bollinger right around the two-minute mark before Bollinger scored his fifth goal right after the Dutchmen successfully fought off an extra-man opportunity by the Colonels. Keenan completed his hat trick with an unassisted goal with 10:17 on the clock to make it 14-8. Nearly three minutes later, Jacob Mrose got in on the scoring with an unassisted goal to push the lead to seven. The Colonels were able to score with 5:24 left in the game to set the final score as the Dutchmen held Wilkes to just two goals on nine total shots in the second half.
 
Inside the Box

• Bollinger led the Dutchmen in scoring with seven points on five goals and two assists. He recorded his second hat trick of the year and picked up a team-high six ground balls.
• Keenan continued his great start to the season with a second consecutive hat trick recording four points on three goals and an assist. The sophomore has scored nine of his 10 goals this year in the past three games.
• Ralston moved closer to a career milestone with three points on one goal and two assists. The senior has 98 goals in his career and has recorded at least one point in all five games this season.
• Sheadan Makosy and Easley Pierson led a strong defensive effort with six ground balls each. Makosy led the team with three caused turnovers while Pierson added one.
• Poole, Carling, Myers, and Lux all had two points on a goal and an assist apiece.
• Christian Valanzola won nine faceoffs while Mitchell Gearhart won six.
• The Dutchmen outshot the Colonels 50-23 including 39-14 after the first quarter. LVC forced the Colonels into 30 turnovers and picked up 40 ground balls compared to 36 by Wilkes.
• LVC was 17-for-20 on clear attempts and held Wilkes to 14-for-26.

Up Next
Lebanon Valley will be back on Arnold Field twice this week, starting on Monday afternoon as the Dutchmen welcome SUNY Potsdam to Annville for a non-conference battle. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m. against the Bears.

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