ALLIANCE, Ohio -- Junior goalkeeper
Noah Cohen (Hewlett, N.Y./George H. Hewlett) recorded a season-high 27 saves to guide the W&J men's lacrosse team to an 8-7 overtime victory over Mount Union in non-conference play.
The outstanding performance by Cohen allowed W&J to overcome a 59-33 shot advantage for the Purple Raiders, which included a 34-13 edge in the second half. Freshman
Alex Strain (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) tallied the game-winning goal in overtime.
After the host Purple Raiders opened with back-to-back goals, W&J countered with consecutive scores by
Pat Brunner (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) and
Benjamin Ward (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) to tie the game. Mount Union would tack on the final score of the first quarter to take a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes.
The Presidents would take their first lead when
Pat Heidecker (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg Area) and Strain scored back-to-back to open the second. Brunner would tally another score just before half to make the score 5-5 at the game's midway point.
The game bogged down in the third quarter, with both defenses and goalkeeper's taking control. W&J scored the lone goal of the quarter when Strain tallied a man-up score to give the Red and Black a 6-5 advantage heading to the fourth. After Ward registered a man-up goal of his own to push the W&J lead to 7-5, Mount Union countered with back-to-back scores by Alex Kungle to tie the score at 7-7 with 8:01 to play.
Despite several chances down the stretch, Cohen denied the Purple Raiders a chance to claim victory in regulation and the contest went to overtime. It was there that Strain scored off of a pass from
Mark Mandak (Enola, Pa./Trinity) at the 1:51 mark of overtime.
Brunner paced the offense with a team-high four points while Strain added three points, all of which were goals. Cohen picked up a team-best four ground balls while
Luke Geister (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) added three pickups.
W&J moves to 2-4 with the win, while the Purple Raiders drop to 2-3 overall. The Presidents host Muskingum University for a non-league game on Wednesday, March 13 at Alexandre Stadium.
