Offensive showcase propels Men's Lacrosse to 22-8 victory over Pfeiffer (N.C.)
By Blake Moore
MISENHEIMER, N.C. — The Ohio Northern men's lacrosse program received hat tricks from senior attack Noah St. Croix (Irondequoit, N.Y.) and junior attack Cameron Marous (Brecksville) and utilized a 49-17 shooting advantage Wednesday afternoon to upend nonconference foe Pfeiffer (N.C.) 22-8 at Lefko Field in the second game of their three-game Spring Break road trip.
With the victory, the Polar Bears improve to 3-1 this season and extend their current road game win streak to 10 consecutive contests, dating back to last season. Meanwhile, the Falcons drop to 2-3 overall in 2019.
St. Croix scored a career-high four goals to record his first hat trick this season and lead the Polar Bear scoring. Meanwhile, Marous ended with three goals for his third hat trick in four games this year.
Ohio Northern also received three assists from senior midfielder Mitch Groves (Fishers, Ind./Bishop Chatard) and sophomore attack Joshua Foster (Fishers, Ind./Heritage Christian).
Defensively, Groves led the way with three caused turnovers while junior Chris DiMarco (Worthington/Thomas Worthington) paced ONU with four ground balls and a nine-for-thirteen effort in the faceoff circle.
The Falcons were led in scoring by midfielder John Allen, who produced three goals in the loss.
In the opening stanza, a stingy ONU defense allowed the home side just one shot through 15 minutes, which the Falcons' Jared Nelson converted to give Pfeiffer an early 1-0 advantage. From there, the Polar Bears used an 11-1 first quarter shot advantage to rattle off three consecutive goals, including two from Marous and a single strike from sophomore Mason Schmeling (Columbus/Hilliard Darby), and take command of the nonconference affair.
The Falcons tried to keep the contest close in the second frame with an early man-up goal just two minutes into the action. However, Northern responded with four consecutive goals, including two strikes from St. Croix in a 27-second span, to put ONU up 7-2 midway through the period. Following the run, both sides exhanged one final blow to end the half, giving Ohio Northern an 8-3 edge headed back to the locker rooms.
After the break, the Polar Bears continued to roll offensively, scoring eight goals in the period off six different scorers. The Falcons tried to keep pace with the visitors, but only mustered three goals in the frame.
ONU finished off the contest pouring in the first six goals of the fourth quarter, extending the lead an insurmountable 22-6 advantage, before Pfeiffer scored the final two goals Wednesday afternoon.
The Orange and Black would convert 16-of-18 clear attempts and finish 20-for-34 in faceoffs during the contest. Northern also owned a 31-19 advantage in ground balls.
Ohio Northern will complete their three-game Spring Break trip this Saturday with an 11 a.m. contest at Brevard (N.C.).