OAC Tournament run for Men's Lacrosse ends in semifinals with tight 7-5 loss at John Carroll
May 1, 2024
ADA — Ohio Northern's Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament run came to an end in the semifinals with a tough 7-5 loss at John Carroll on a warm Wednesday evening.
The Basics
- Records: Ohio Northern (13-6 overall), John Carroll (10-4 overall).
- Ohio Northern was the No. 4 seed. John Carroll was the No. 1 seed.
- Venue: Don Shula Stadium - University Heights, Ohio.
The Game
- Senior Andrew Caliri (Lexington, Mass.) scored just 2:27 into the contest to give ONU a quick 1-0 lead.
- The Blue Streaks scored the next three goals to lead 3-1, but junior Caleb Bennett (New Market, Md./Linganore) scored with 10:20 left in the half to make it 3-2.
- Caliri scored again at the 7:13 mark of the period to tie the game at 3-3.
- JCU led 4-3 at halftime and extended the lead to 7-4 with 12:47 left in the game.
- Freshman Hudson Welsh (Fallston, Md./Wright) scored with 9:23 to go to pull ONU within 7-5.
- Northern got off six shots the rest of the way, but both shots on goal were saved and JCU held on for the win.
- Fifth-year senior Cole Zaferakis (Liverpool, N.Y.) had eight saves in goal for the Polar Bears.
- John Carroll out-shot Ohio Northern 32-28.
Notables
- Northern reached the semifinals in five consecutive OAC Tournaments and is 5-1 in quarterfinal games in program history.
- ONU clinched a spot in the 6-team OAC Tournament for the sixth consecutive season.
- Senior Aidan Dempsey (Silver Spring, Md./St. John's College) ranks fifth all-time in ONU history with 143 points in his career. He ranks third with 103 career goals and is fifth with 41 assists.
- He also led the team in scoring this season with 46 goals, 13 assists and 58 points.
- In all, 27 different Polar Bears scored goals this season with six more adding at least one assist.
- Senior Chad Calderwood (Portland, Ore./Episcopal) won two faceoffs on the day, extending his school record to 427 for his career.
- Senior Sebastian Michaud (Springboro) is sixth at ONU with 73 career goals, is seventh with 31 assists and has 104 career points.
- Fifth-year senior Riley O'Neal (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) is sixth with 40 career assists.
- Zaferakis holds the ONU career records for saves (591), wins (49) and goalie minutes played (3,782).
- Ohio Northern is now 1-10 all-time against John Carroll, including a 1-6 record at Don Shula Stadium.
- Head coach Nat St.Laurent is in his ninth season at Ohio Northern with a 92-48 record and has a winning percentage of .657.
Up Next
- Season Complete.
