Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Lacrosse team faced tough conditions Thursday night as they fell 14-7 to Elmhurst College at Memorial Stadium.
It was a rainy evening and it proved tough for the Purple & Gold as they drop to 4-4.
The first half was tight separated by a goal. But a 6-0 spurt in the third quarter proved the difference in the loss. The Blue Jays opened up the contest with three unanswered, which included back to back conversions on man-ups. But over the final 8:00 minutes it was all Whittier as Ryland Clay (Aurora, CO), Billy Shaffer (Tuscon, AZ), and Conner Sexton (San Jose, Calif.) would match the run with three of their own that deadlocked the game.
Elmhurst went back on top to start the second with back to back tallies from Andrew Frerich and Mac Harden. Connor Dee (Collegeville, PA) stopped the run with a nice addition at the 9:06 mark getting fed by Sexton and Nate Heritage (Bellingham, WA) came up clutch three minutes later that kept the Poets within one at the break.
Out of the half, the wheels fell off for Whittier as they were shutout 6-0 over the next 15:00 minutes as Elmhurst took a 12-5 lead. In the fourth, Dee and Heritage tacked on another two for the Purple & Gold but it wouldn't be enough as the Bluejays would keep WC at bay with the final two goals of the game.
Alex Cramer (Rocky Hill, CT) played 39:00 between the posts and picked up eight saves against 15 shots. He also had two groundballs.
Dee and Heritage each added two goals on the game. Sexton had a goal and two assists and Clay and Shaffer each added tallies. On defense, Ryan Crawford (San Clemente, Calif.), Max Lepley (San Clemente, Calif.), and Max Bragdon (Denver, CO) each registered four caused turnovers each. Crawford also had four groundballs joined by Cooper Champagne (La Mesa, Calif.) who added five groundballs with an assist.
Whittier was outshot 43-17, was 2-for-9 on man-up opportunities, was 7-for-16 on clear attempts and grabbed 23 groundballs. But the difference in the game was possessions as Whittier was a mere 5-of-24 on the circle.
Whittier returns to competition with an MLCA match-up against Chapman University next Saturday March 31 beginning at 1:00pm in Orange.
