Lacrosse defeats DePauw despite inclement weather

By Jimmy Sanzone
Transcript Correspondent

Ohio Wesleyan’s men’s lacrosse team overpowered DePauw University this past Wednesday, blowing by the Tigers for a 24-2 victory at Selby Field. The Bishops’ record improved to 9-4, while the Tigers fell to 0-10.

OWU started the game well on offense, scoring six goals by the 9:45 mark in the first quarter.

After two DePauw turnovers in a span of 25 seconds, senior midfielder Pat Bassett assisted junior attacker Casey Helms to give OWU a 7-0 lead just seven minutes into the game. By the time lightning caused a delay with 3:59 left in the first quarter, OWU held an 11-1 lead.

“One of our juniors, Spencer Schnell, really brought a lot of energy and the entire team fed off him,” OWU freshman defenseman Mike Knapp said. “We got off to a good start but we thought we should have taken better shots.”

Less than seven minutes into the second quarter, the Bishops extended the lead to 18. Freshman attacker George Rice, who scored two goals to give OWU a 19-1 lead, led the charge.

A six-minute scoring drought from both teams, which included three OWU turnovers, came to an end with 2:39 left in the first half when OWU sophomore attacker Edwin Foster scored off sophomore Tommy Minkler’s assist.

The duo repeated the same actions just minutes later, again scoring giving OWU a 21-1 lead going into halftime.

The beginning of the third quarter showed more of the same from the Bishops, who quickly scored twice by the 14:04 mark to gain a comfortable 23-1 lead over the Tigers.

DePauw midfielder Michael Strader was the sole bright spot for the Tigers, scoring for the second time with 8:37 left to play in the third quarter. This was the final goal the Tigers scored.

After much stagnant play from both teams, play was stopped again for almost three hours due to more intense lightning. The players kept themselves entertained during the wait.

“We had some music playing and we were dancing around, just bonding as a team,” OWU sophomore midfielder Nico Pariambada said. “Some guys were out in the tunnel playing wall ball keeping their stick loose, as well.”

After almost three hours, play resumed with undesirable weather. Just three minutes into the fourth quarter, the game was called after another lightning sighting.

One of the keys to the game for the Bishops was time of possession. OWU dominated the ball for the entire game with a combination of smart passes on offense and good energy on defense.

“Our offense did a great job controlling and possessing the ball so when it came to our side of the field we had plenty of energy to play great fundamental defense,” Knapp said.

Senior Colin Short, Foster, Minkler and Schnell each tallied three goals by the time the game was called. Senior Jaime Vavrek collected four assists for the Bishops.