GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon College men's lacrosse team turned in a superb defensive display Saturday en route to a 16-5 dismantling of the Wittenberg University Tigers. The game was the first North Coast Athletic Conference game of the season for the Lords, who improved to 6-1 overall.

Wittenberg (4-3 overall, 0-2 NCAC) was limited to just five goals on 26 shots. The Tigers, whose previous result was a tight 10-6 conference loss to Denison, entered Saturday's showdown averaging over ten goals per game.

Kenyon's defensive pressure consistently disrupted the Wittenberg offense and often shut down the transition game, keeping the Tigers from even setting up their attack. At the back end of the Lords' defense was junior goalkeeper David Page (West Chester, PA/St. Andrew's (DE)), who made a dozen saves.

On the other side of the field, the Kenyon attack launched 46 shots. Junior Brett Fuller (Marlborough, MA/Avon Old Farms) took nine of those shots and led the Lords with three goals and two assists. Senior Nate Pritchard (Narberth, PA/Lower Merion) also had three goals, as did junior Ben Alexander (West Falls, NY/East Aurora).

Wittenberg was the first to light the board, scoring 59 seconds into the game. The Tigers scored once more and trailed just 3-2 at the end of the first quarter. The Lords, however, outscored Wittenberg 6-1 in the second quarter. Two of those six goals came from Pritchard and another two came from Fuller.

The Tigers added their last two goals in the third period to pull within 10-5, but Kenyon tightened down the screws and kept Wittenberg scoreless for the game's final 25 minutes.

In a bit of an odd twist, three man-down goals were scored. Fuller and Dominique McKoy (Portland, OR/Woodrow Wilson) each notched a man-down goal for the Lords, while Danny Johnson tallied one for the Tigers. McKoy, along with teammates Devin Catlin (Charlottesville, VA/Western Albemarle) and Jordan Zimolka (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore), wound up scoring two goals.

Kenyon will next play Tuesday against the College of Mount Saint Joseph in a make-up game. The game was originally scheduled as the Lords' season-opener on February 23, but was snowed out.

2008-04-05