WESTMINSTER, Md. – Gibbs Preston (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) tallied a game- and career-high seven points to lead McDaniel to a 24-5 victory over Hood in non-conference men's lacrosse action on Wednesday.

Will Oconis netted three of the five goals for the Blazers (0-12) while adding an assist. Steve Hoffman (Latham, NY/LaSalle) added five goals and an assist for the Green Terror (5-3), who outshot Hood 70-10 in the game.

Three minutes into the game, Hoffman started a 12-0 opening quarter and a half to the game for McDaniel. In total, Hoffman tallied three times in the stretch, including two of the Green Terror's three man-up goals.

Leading 7-0 after the first quarter, Hoffman finished a Bill Warner (Yardley, PA/LaSalle) feed at the 11:39 mark of the second half. Ten seconds later, Brad Baer (Westminster, MD/Westminster) corralled the face-off – one of his 13 wins in 13 attempts – and took it straight to the right post before flipping the ball behind his back to a wide-open Matthew Daley (Wilmington, DE/A.I. Dupont) in front of the cage, who finished for the middle goal of his hat trick.

At the 4:46 mark, Jason Anderson finished an Oconis assist, converting the Blazers' second man-up opportunity to break up the shut out. Hoffman completed his four-goal day with 3:33 remaining in the first half to spark a 7-0 burst that put McDaniel up 16-1 at halftime and, ultimately, 19-1 with 6:59 to play in the third. Twenty-four seconds after Corey Nellisen (Round Lake, NY/Bridgeton Academy) capped the spurt, Oconis netted his first goal.

After Matt Buschman (Baltimore, MD/Calvert Hall) tallied, Oconis scored on either side of the third-period intermission. Chris Riordan (Monkton, MD/Hereford) netted his first collegiate goal and Matt Srour (Catonsville, MD/Cardinal Gibbons) tallied his second goal of the game, and second of his career, 1 minute, 21 seconds apart.

In addition to the shot disparity, McDaniel also held a 60-19 advantage in ground balls and won 27 of 33 face-offs. The Green Terror returns to action at Swarthmore on Saturday. Game time is 3:00 p.m.

2007-04-04