Photo: Tony Leon/D3WestPhotography

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Apr. 23, 2022) – The Whittier College men's lacrosse team ended the 2022 regular season on Sunday afternoon at Illinois Wesleyan University, going to overtime with the Titans after a fourth quarter that saw both teams put together two significant runs. Sunday's game would mark the only official result for the Poets on what was supposed to be a two-game road trip, as Friday's game against Carthage College got called due to lightning in the area during the first quarter.

The Poets owned the first half of the final frame while the Titans handled things in the second half of the quarter, having caught a second wind following Whittier's offensive outburst. Whittier capitalized on three prime opportunities during this stretch with three man-up goals, two of which belonged to junior Wiley Burkett (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Limestone University). Burkett's first goal of the quarter came on a nice set-up pass from senior Ronan Dooney (Portland, Ore. / Central Catholic), who accounted for the second man-up goal just prior to the 10-minute mark. Dooney, who played what will likely be his final game in the Purple & Gold, ran the Poets' offense to near perfection with four goals and three assists on eight shots. All four of Dooney's goals were necessary to the Poets forcing overtime on the road, but Whittier also started the game strong with one of its best first quarters of the season.

Junior Ike Eastburn (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Goucher College) tied Dooney for the team lead in goals with four, and got the Poets on the board early by depositing the ball into the back of the net to answer the Titans' quick strike to open Sunday's game. Freshman Brayden Legette (Aurora, Colo. / Eaglecrest) would go on to score Whittier's next two goals and finished the game with three on a team-high nine shots. With goals from Dooney and Eastburn closing the frame, the Poets took a 5-1 lead into the second quarter on the road as the host Titans struggled to keep up with the visitors' pace and precision. The Titans, who are 5-0 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, would claw their way back into contention, however, putting the onus on the Poets to find an answer. The visiting team would do just that in the fourth quarter, opening the frame on a 6-2 run before running out of gas down the stretch. Freshman goalie Drew Low (Puyallup, Wash. / Graham-Kapowsin) capped off his stellar rookie season with 14 saves while playing more than 60 minutes.

The Poets had a solid first year under first-year head coach Curt Foxx, winning eight of 13 games with two overtime defeats. Collectively, the Purple & Gold accounted for 182 goals, with assists coming on more than half of them. Fifteen of those goals have come on the man advantage and from a ball control standpoint, the Poets finished the year having won two out of every three faceoffs and totaled 488 ground balls as a team. Their best win of the season came against Widener University in the home opener, as the Pride have since gone on to win four of their last five games. 

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