Men's Lacrosse celebrates Senior Day with 8-3 victory over Mount Union

ADA — The Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team celebrated Senior Day with a defensive-minded 8-3 victory over Mount Union on a sunny and chilly Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (11-5 overall, 6-2 OAC), Mount Union (6-10 overall, 2-6 OAC).
• Venue: Dial-Roberson Stadium - Ada, Ohio.

The Game

• Senior John Lynn (Cincinnati/Sycamore) scored three goals and added an assist for four points to lead the ONU offense.
• But it was the defensive performance that made the difference, as the Polar Bears forced their guests into 25 turnovers.
• Fifth-year senior Cole Zaferakis (Liverpool, N.Y.) stopped eight of the 11 shots on goal he faced in the contest.
• Northern out-scored Mount Union 2-1 in each of the first two quarters to lead 4-2 at intermission.
• Ohio Northern then scored both of the goals in the third quarter to lead 6-2 entering the final period.
• The Purple Raiders got within 6-3 with 9:31 left in the game.
• But the Polar Bears got goals from sophomore Colin Willits (West Chester/Lakota West) at the 8:55 mark and from senior Sebastian Michaud (Springboro) with 54 seconds left to ice the game.
• ONU out-shot UMU 36-20.

Notables

• The Polar Bears are tied for third place in the OAC standings with Capital with 6-2 records with one regular season game left to play.
• Northern has clinched a spot in the 6-team OAC Tournament for the sixth consecutive season and will host either a quarterfinal game on Saturday or a semifinal game on May 1, depending on the results from Wednesday's regular season finale.
• Senior Aidan Dempsey (Silver Spring, Md./St. John's College) now ranks fifth all-time in ONU history with 134 points in his career. He ranks third with 95 career goals and is fifth with 40 assists.
• He also leads the team in scoring this season with 38 goals, 12 assists and 50 points.
• In all, 26 different Polar Bears have scored goals this season with five more adding at least one assist.
• Senior Chad Calderwood (Portland, Ore./Episcopal) went 4-for-7 on faceoffs on the day, extending his school record to 406 for his career. 
• Michaud had one goal and is now sixth at ONU with 70 career goals, is seventh with 30 assists and became just the sixth Polar Bear to amass 100 career points.
• Fifth-year senior Riley O'Neal (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) is sixth with 39 career assists.
• Zafarakis holds the ONU career records for saves (572), wins (47) and goalie minutes played (3,652).
• Head coach Nat St.Laurent is in his ninth season at Ohio Northern with a 90-47 record and has a winning percentage of .657.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will wrap up their regular season on Wednesday night at 7 pm with a home contest against Wilmington.