GREENVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 24) -- The Thiel College Men's Lacrosse team dominated La Roche University 20-2 Tuesday evening inside the Rissell-Schreyer Dome in a non-conference clash.
The Tomcats improve to 1-3 (1-0 PAC) and collect their 10th-straight series victory over the the Redhawks (0-1). As a team, the Blue and Gold grabbed 81 ground balls, the second-most in program history, and won 24 faceoffs, the seventh-most in team lore.
The onslaught began early as
Austin Parker (Titusville, Pa./Maplewood) won the opening faceoff and went right down the field to find
Quentin Cato (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) for the Cats' first goal 9 seconds into the contest, tying the team record for fastest goal scored to open a game. The Cats went on to log five more goals in the quarter as
Logan Millie (Fairview, Pa./Fairview) and
Kasey Estep (Brunswick, Ohio/Holy Name) each netted two and
Dom Baker (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) added a man-up goal.
Parker won 23-of-24 faceoffs, with his 23 wins being tied for fifth-most in team history. He grabbed a game-most 19 ground balls, the fourth-most in Thiel history, while scoring once and dishing out three helpers.
Cato finished with a pair of goals and assists each to go with eight ground balls while Estep logged four goals and two assists for 6 points and grabbed 12 ground balls.
Millie netted four goals and had three helpers for 7 points to go with seven ground balls. Baker finished with three goals and one assist for 4 points. His 17 ground balls and six caused turnovers are both tied for fifth-most in team history.
Joey King (Cooperstown, Pa./Maplewood) logged 3 of his game-most six goals in the second period alone as the Cats carried a 12-1 lead into the break. King snagged five ground balls and caused a trio of turnovers.
Defensively,
Bereket Debebe (Silverspring, Md./Paint Branch) and
Joey Peterson (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) each caused a pair of turnovers as the Tomcats had 15 caused turnovers for the game.
Hunter Crouse (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Charles F. Brush) corralled five ground balls and won a faceoff.
Ethan Narby (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) collected the win in goal, making four saves. Thiel held La Roche to just 12 shots (six on goal).
The Tomcats are back in action Thursday for a 3 p.m. home non-conference tilt with Keuka.