Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Lacrosse team held on for the 11-6 win Friday afternoon over Elmhurst College bringing their record to 6-3 on the season.
It's the second straight win for the Purple & Gold as they have now won six of their last eight.
Ashton Pieris (Burien, WA) got the scoring started with the first two goals of the contest and was followed shortly after with Nick Hernandez (La Mesa, Calif.) going top shelf off a feed from Jackson Draper (Steamboat Springs, CO) from behind the goal.
Elmhurst then answered with three straight soon after, which carried over into the second quarter that tied the game. But that's as close as they would get as Chris Burley (San Diego, Calif.) would capitalize on a man-up along with an unassisted goal, while Cooper Champagne (La Mesa, Calif.) would come down by himself following a faceoff won that put WC on top 6-3 at the break.
Dan O'Connell out of the break cut the deficit to two with an unassisted strike but again Whittier responded with their own spurt thanks to Burley and Pieris that moved the score to 9-4 after three quarters of play.
In the final period, Elmhurst found some offense and threatened adding a couple but it wouldn't be enough to win the frame as Evan Price (San Diego, Calif.) and Burley would add two themselves that solidified the win for the Poets.
Pieris and Burley each recorded four goals apiece. Pieris also had five groundballs, while Devin O'Donnell (Carlsbad, Calif.) totaled six with two caused turnovers.
Alex Hernandez (La Mesa, Calif.) on the defensive side finished with a team high three caused turnovers with three groundballs and Max Thiele (San Diego, Calif.) joined him with another three.
Alex Cramer (Rocky Hill, CT) played all 60:00 between the posts and added 11 saves against 17 shots.
Whittier outshot Elmhurst 36-28, picked up 35 groundballs and was 11-12 on clear attempts. They were also 1-1 on man-up opportunities and was 10-20 on face offs.
Whittier hits the road for a couple trips. The first coming to Colorado Springs, CO where they will take on Southwestern (April 8 @ 1:00pm) and Colorado College (April 9 @ 11:00am).
