Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Lacrosse team played a physical contest Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium but couldn't complete the comeback as they fell short 9-7 to Division II Colorado Mesa University.
It was a tough start for the Purple & Gold as they were held scoreless for the first half of play as the Mavericks would take a 3-0 lead into halftime.
In the third, a combined six goals were scored. Freshman Ryland Clay (Aurora, CO) got the scoring started with an unassisted strike, which pulled Whittier within two but three straight by CMU would extend the lead to five.
Over the final 2:13 however, Whittier would add another two coming from freshman Nate Heritage (Bellingham, WA) and Evan Price (San Diego, Calif.) that cut the deficit in half.
Then in the fourth the Poets would outscore CMU 4-3 but it wouldn't be enough to complete the comeback as the Mavericks would hold on for the two goal victory. Over the first ten minutes in the frame, CMU would go on a 3-1 run that moved the deficit back to five. But in the final 3:29, Whittier would add three in a row, with the last two coming within :30 seconds of each other from Chris Burley (San Diego, Calif.) and Ashton Pieris (Burien, WA).
Pieris led the offense with two goals on five shots. Burley had a goal and an assist with four groundballs, while Max Thiele (San Diego, Calif.), Nick Angileri (San Jose, Calif.), and Alex Hernandez (La Mesa, Calif.) combined for 10 caused turnovers.
Between the posts, Alex Cramer (Rocky Hill, CT) faced 24 shots and picked up 15 saves. Freshman Cooper Champagne (La Mesa, Calif.) was 4-15 on faceoffs, while Kevin O'Donnell (Carlsbad, Calif.) was 2-4.
The Poets were outshot 41-32 on the afternoon and both teams combined to go 0-10 on man-up opportunities. Whittier was 12-16 on clear attempts and picked up 28 groundballs.
Whittier has a quick turnaround as they host Notre Dame de Namur today, Sunday, February 12 with game time set for 12:00pm.
