Men’s Lacrosse suffers first loss of season, 10-5 at Hampden-Sydney (Va.)

By Wes Mayberry

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. — After a 5-0 start, the Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team suffered its first setback of the season Wednesday, falling 10-5 to Hampden-Sydney (Va.) at Everett Stadium as part of the team's spring break trip.

The Polar Bears (5-1 overall) were led offensively by seniors Tyler Ferguson (Springboro) and Alex Reimer (Lancaster, N.Y.) and junior John Lynn (Cincinnati/Sycamore), who finished with two points each.

Ferguson tallied a team-best two goals, while Reimer and Lynn each had one goal and one assist.

Senior Andrew Reimer (Lancaster, N.Y.) and sophomore Joe Keeley (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) led ONU with four ground balls apiece, and Keeley added three caused turnovers.

Ray O'Brien led the Tigers (4-2 overall) with four goals, and Nick Thompson had a game-high 10 ground balls.

The Tigers scored the game's lone first-quarter goal before outscoring ONU 7-1 in the second frame to take an 8-1 lead into halftime.

Northern's second-quarter goal came from freshman Nathan Flynn (Springboro), making the score 5-1 with 9:08 remaining.

Hampden-Sydney extended its lead to 10-2 at the end of the third quarter, and the Polar Bears capped the scoring with three unanswered goals in the fourth.

Ferguson scored on an assist from Lynn with 9:27 left, Alex Reimer found the back of the net with 7:29 remaining, and Ferguson netted his second goal on an assist from Alex Reimer with 6:00 left.

Senior Cole Zaferakis (Liverpool, N.Y.) moved to 5-1 in goal on the season after tallying 17 saves for ONU.

The Tigers out-shot the Polar Bears 48-17 and finished with a 40-29 edge in ground balls.

Northern forced 21 turnovers while committing 24.

The Polar Bears return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. at No. 20 Roanoke (Va.) for the final game of their spring break trip.