Men's Lacrosse sees OAC Tournament run end with 10-6 semifinal loss at Baldwin Wallace
By Tim Glon
BEREA — Ohio Northern saw its Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament run come to an end with a 10-6 loss at Baldwin Wallace in the semifinals on a chilly Wednesday night at Finnie Stadium.
The fourth-seeded Polar Bears end their season at 12-6 overall, while top-seeded Yellow Jackets move into the OAC Tournament finals with a 16-2 mark.
Senior Alex Reimer (Lancaster, N.Y.) scored three first-half goals to lead ONU as the game was tied 4-4 at intermission.
Junior Andrew Caliri (Lexington, Mass.) tied the game at 5-all with a goal at the 5:57 mark of the third quarter.
But the Yellow Jackets would score three times the rest of the period to grab an 8-5 advantage heading into the final period.
Caliri found the net 2:05 into the fourth quarter to bring ONU within 8-6.
The BWU defense forced turnovers on five consecutive Polar Bear possessions and scored twice off those to increase the lead to 10-6 with 3:16 left in the game.
Northern scored on the first two possessions of the game when senior Riley O'Neal (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) found the net 1:08 into the contest and Reimer followed with a goal just 1:01 later, making it 2-0 Polar Bears just 2:09 into the contest.
BW scored the next four goals to go up 4-2.
Reimer scored goals 2:21 apart to tie the game at 4-4 with 4:14 left in the half.
Senior goalkeeper Cole Zaferakis (Liverpool, N.Y.) stopped 10 of 20 shots on goal and moved his record to 12-6 on the season.
Junior Chad Calderwood (West Linn, Ore./Episcopal) won 11-of-20 faceoffs and had a team-high eight ground balls for ONU.
Baldwin Wallace out-shot Ohio Northern 52-24 and forced ONU into 20 turnovers while committing only 14.
Wednesday night's game marked the fifth consecutive OAC Tournament semifinal appearance for the Polar Bears.