ASHLAND, Va. - Williams men’s lacrosse continued its early season win-streak today as the team defeated Randolph Macon 11-6 to push its record to 3-0. Mike Ryan scored 3 goals for the Ephs, and three other Ephs scored 2, and Sam Hargrove picked up a game high 3 assists. The game marks the team’s second game of five straight on the road. The Ephs will now take on Roanoke tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
The team’s game began slowly for both teams, but the Ephs took control as the first quarter closed. Ryan scored the first goal of the game with 2:53 to play in the first off an assist from Tim Goggins, before Goggins picked up an unassisted goal of his own 1:38 later, and Will Stewart scored off a feed from Hargrove with only 20 seconds remaining in the quarter to give the Ephs a 3-0 lead after the first.
The second period again brought more even play, as the Yellow Jackets scored only 14 seconds into the period before Ryan scored his second with 6:50 remaining to bring the Eph advantage back to 3. Neither team was able to find the net the rest of the period, and the teams entered half time with Williams leading 4-1.
Williams outshot Macon 14-10 on the half while thoroughly outworking its opponents on the ground, picking up 18 ground balls to Macon’s 12.
As they did against Colby in their first game of the season, the Ephs came out of half time with a bang. Led by a goal and 2 assists by Hargrove and 2 goals from co-captain Richard Reuter, Williams scored six unanswered goals coming out of the break. Macon scored its first goal of the second half with 2 minutes to play in the third, then the teams traded goals as the quarter closed, and the Ephs entered the fourth with a commanding 11-3 lead.
Williams couldn’t get on the scoreboard in the fourth, and Macon made a valiant effort to come back, scoring 3 goals, but the Eph lead proved insurmountable, and Williams walked away with the 11-6 victory.
The Ephs controlled the game at every level: over the sixty minutes, they won 12 of 19 face-offs, claimed 35 ground balls to the Jackets’ 28, and outshot the Jackets 34-28. Stephen Vrla stopped 11 of the Jackets’ 17 shots on net to lead the Eph defense.
“It was a good win for us today being on the road,” said George McCormack, head coach of the Ephs. “We’ve won the last two on the road so we’re happy about that. The team is playing really well right now, and the goalie and defensemen are working well together. We are happy with the way the team is shaping up right now, and we know we have a big game tomorrow night against Roanoke.”
