WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson men's lacrosse team bested Thiel on Senior Day by an 11-6 final score on Saturday, April 27, to bring a close to the 2019 season. 

The Presidents end the year with an 8-8 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the PAC, while the Tomcats finish with a 7-8 overall record and a 2-5 league record. 

W&J stormed ahead early, taking a 4-1 advantage after the first quarter. Alex Strain (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) scored twice in the first 15 minutes, while Benjamin Ward (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and Pat Heidecker (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg Area) also found the back of the net in the period. 

Thiel cut its deficit to two goals by winning the second quarter 3-2. With the lone goal of the third period, the Presidents took a 7-4 lead into the fourth. 

Three straight goals by Pat Brunner (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) sealed the victory for W&J. The first of the three goals came man down, while the second came when Brunner caught the Tomcats sleeping on a long pass from Shawn Wallbillich (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth), the junior defender's first career point. 

With today's victory, the Red & Black owned leads over Thiel in shots (45-42), shots on goal (28-22), ground balls (43-32) and face off wins (16-3). 

Brunner paced all players with six points on four goals and two assists. The sophomore ends the season with career highs in points (52), goals (37) and assists (15). 

Strain was second on the team with four points (2G, 2A), while Ward finished with three goals. Ward and Strain ended the year neck and neck for the team lead in points, as Ward tallied 57 and Strain had 56.  The duo both cracked W&J's single-season points leaderboard, as Ward is eighth and Strain is tied for ninth. Ward ends his junior season in fifth on the Presidents' all-time points leaderboard with 167 in his career.  

On the defensive end of the field, seniors Joseph Tritschler (New Kensington, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) and Rocco Ruscitto (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) both had stellar performances on Senior Day. Tritschler led all players with seven ground balls and five caused turnovers. Ruscitto logged four ground balls and one caused turnover to go along with his fifth assist of the year. 

In goal, Noah Cohen (Hewlett, N.Y./George W. Hewlett) played all 60 minutes to pick up the win. The junior needed 16 saves to top the Tomcats, his second straight game with 16-plus stops. Cohen has made 200-plus saves in each of the last three years, as he has recorded a program-record 725 career stops.