Strong second half not enough for Pride lacrosse against No. 5 William Penn
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Hosting their first of two home games this week, the Clarke University men's lacrosse team dropped a Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup to No. 5 William Penn University on Wednesday afternoon at Burrows Field.
The Statesmen came into enemy territory and asserted their style of play early and often, jumping out to a 5-0 lead through a majority of the first quarter before Xavier Howard got CU on the board with their first goal with 1:03 left in the period, but WPU was able to get another in the back of the net before the first ended to make it 6-1 at the break.
It was more William Penn in the second quarter as they outscored the Pride 5-1 over the next 15 minutes with Tyler Fleming getting on the board to make it 8-2, but it was an 11-2 Statesmen lead at the halftime break.
In the second half, Clarke was able to play with more energy, possession, and efficiency with each team scoring two goals in both the third and fourth quarters as Fleming and Howard each added their second goals in the third then Jackson Michaels scoring both his goals in the fourth quarter, first off of an assist from Howard, his third helper of the game to go along with his two goals, and the other on a pass from Reese Rubino who got his pass from Howard on a nice behind the back play.
Kenny Bohney of the Statesmen led all players with an eight-point day, scoring four goals and dishing out four assists while the goalie matchup saw WPU's Connor Russell make eight saves compared to the 17 saves made by CU's Kiereek Mcleod, who played his first 60-minute game of the season and his time as a member of the Pride.
On the faceoffs, senior Josh Pote provided plenty of possession opportunities for Clarke, going 16-for-24 at the dot including losing only two faceoffs in total out of 10 in the second half with strong ground ball pickups on those faceoffs and the defensive end from Theo Deberghes as the reigning Heart Defensive Player of the Week finished with 10 ground balls while also causing five turnovers.
Pride men's lacrosse will host their second-straight Heart game at Burrows Field when they welcome Missouri Valley College on Saturday, Mar. 28 for a 12:00 p.m. CT scheduled opening faceoff against the Vikings that will also serve as CU's Senior Day.