The University of Dallas men’s lacrosse team was defeated by North Central College this past Tuesday, March 19, wrapping up their fifth home game and sixth season loss. Coming into the game, the Cardinals’ highest scoring quarter was the first quarter, in which they accumulated 23 out of their 64 season goals. The Crusaders played a competitive first quarter, holding the deficit at 3 to 1 until the last 14 seconds of the opening quarter.
UD fought hard from the start of every reset, winning 11-of-29 face-offs, led by senior midfielder Joshua McClendon from Redondo Beach, Calif., who won nine face-offs. Defensively, junior Hector Pinell-Sanchez Manor, Texas made 15 saves playing all 60 minutes as goalkeeper.
“We played pretty well against North Central, a team that was strong on both ends of the ball,” said senior captain Tyler Smith. “Josh did a great job at the face-off X, earning us possessions, and the defense made some key stops alongside a strong effort in the cage by Hector.”
Opponent Jared Weaver led the Cardinals with 11 points, a combination of three goals and eight assists. Dallas junior Jake Frederick from Coppell, Texas, led the attack from midfield with his 10th goal of the season six minutes in. Sophomore midfielder Joseph Kilmer, from Rockville, Md., made his collegiate debut and came out solid offensively. The cross country dual sport athlete scored the team’s second goal, had two shots on goal and five ground balls to tie for second on the team with junior attacker Tucker Jameson, from Mechanicsville, Md.
Dallas fired 22 shots, with 15 deflected from the cage, but the Cardinals held control of the ball, gathering 55 ground balls compared to the Crusader’s 35. Frederick collected a team-high of six ground balls, while junior defenseman Bogar Trout III, from Tecumseh, Mich., secured four.
“If the defense continues to play and communicate the way they have been and the offense continues to improve the way we have the last few games, then we should finish the season on a positive note as we start to look towards conference play in April,” Smith said.
Both teams’ sportsmanship was commendable; no penalty whistle was called the entire game.
The UD men’s lacrosse team will travel to Columbia, Mo., to face off against Columbia College next Saturday, March 30 at 1 p.m.
