Box Score

GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Tomcat men's lacrosse squad, trailing just 6-4 at the half, watched visiting Oberlin College close out the final 30 minutes by outscoring the home team 10-4 to claim a 16-8 victory Wednesday afternoon at the Rissell-Schreyer Dome.

Connor Jackson led the Oberlin (1-1) offense, scoring four goals with an assist. Sean Higgins chipped in with three scores and a pair of assists. The Yeomen finished with a 38-29 edge in shots and a 36-31 advantage in ground balls. Paul Paschke picked up a team-high 10 ground balls for Oberlin. Erickson Andrews saved six shots and allowed seven goals to pick up his first victory between the pipes this season.

Francis Ahia (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills), Brent Nicholson (Whitehouse, Ohio/Anthony Wayne), and Carmen Papa (Salamanca, N.Y./Salamanca Central) each scored twice for Thiel (1-2). Papa also finished with a career-high four assists while Ahia totaled nine faceoff wins and eight ground balls.

The Yeomen took a 1-0 lead just 17 seconds into the first as Connor Jackson scored from inside the circle. A Higgins goal from right wing with 11:52 remaining in the first saw the visitors go up 2-0, and after Mickey Fiorillo scored from left wing at the 6:21 mark of the first, Oberlin pushed its lead to 3-0.

Nicholson put the Tomcats on the board with 5:28 left in the first, scoring a man-up goal off of a Papa assist. Just one minute later (4:28) Andrew Shaver (Liverpool, N.Y./West Genesee) scored on Papa's second assist to bring Thiel to within one, 3-2. Zachary Macurak (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) scored his first goal of the season with 3:44 to play in the first from in the circle to tie the game at 3-3.

Daniel Fineman's goal from far right wing broke the 3-3 tie and gave the visiting Yeomen a 4-3 advantage with 7:44 to go before the half. Sean Seaman's goal from the circle with 5:55 to play extended the visitor's lead to 5-3 before Ahia scored off of Papa's third assist to trim the Tomcat deficit to one, 5-4, with 3:50 to play in the opening half.

Higgins notched his second score with 2:27 to go before the break, securing a 6-4 halftime advantage for Oberlin.

Fiorello opened the second half with a goal at the 11:44 mark to give the Yeoman a 7-4 edge. Papa registered his first goal of the afternoon, a man-up score from the top of the circle, with 11 minutes to go in the third to bring Thiel back to within a pair of goals, 7-5.

Fineman scored from the right wing off of an Eli Fisher assist with 8:24 left in the third to extend the Oberlin lead to three, 8-5, and Matthew Roger's goal from the circle with: 627 left pushed their lead to four, 9-5.

With just over five minutes remaining in the third Nicholson scored his second goal of the afternoon to bring the Tomcats to within three, 9-6.

Jackson's score with 1:46 left in the third gave the Yeomen a 10-6 lead and a four-goal advantage heading into the fourth period.

Early fourth-quarter qoals by Higgins and Seaman and a pair of scores by Jackson allowed the Yeoman to take control of the contest, stretching its lead to 14-6. Papa's score with just over seven minutes remaining interrupted the Yeomen scoring run, but Jackson notched his fifth score of the contest with 5:50 to play to push the visitors lead back to eight, 15-7.

Fisher's second score came with just under three minutes remaining and gave the Yeoman a 16-7 advantage. Ahia scored with four seconds to play to close out  the scoring

Thiel is set to return to action on Saturday, March 3 at Elizabethtown University (1p.m.)