COLUMBUS, Ohio – On a very overcast and rainy Saturday afternoon, the Capital University men's lacrosse team was shining underneath the lights of Bernlohr Stadium. While the game was brutal in terms of physicality, the Comets struck fast and often en route to a 15-9 win over the Wittenberg University Tigers.
With the win, Capital strings together two in a row for a total of three wins on the season, inching ever closer to the .500 mark at 3-4.
Wittenberg remains winless on the year, dropping to 0-6.
Capital spread the wealth as ten Comets struck nylon.
Jake Belt led the way with a hat trick.
Evan Frund and
Brenden Pelton found the back of the net twice. To round out the scoring,
Cody Colon,
Jack Scharner,
Nathan Montgomery,
Mason Spaulding,
Chase Snyder,
Jon Gaglione, and Jonathan Kilgallon all scored a goal apiece.
Aiden Manning's unselfishness opened up his teammates for good looks. His two assists led the team in that category.
On the defensive side of things, Capital stunted the Tiger offense who had 20 turnovers.
Doc Crimmel led the defensive front with five caused turnovers. The Purple and White were quick to pounce on loose balls in return, gathering 35.
Sam McInturf,
Cody Colon, and
Chase Snyder were the breadwinners when it came to rounding up ground balls with McInturf collecting six, and Colon and Snyder each grabbing five of their own.
Sam McInturf was also responsible locked up the cage once again. He stopped 14 shots on his way to another winning decision. As McInturf has patrolled the Capital goal in every game this season, his record matches the team's at 3-4.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams traded blows in the early going.
Jack Scharner drew first blood with an unassisted goal three minutes in, quickly followed by a couple of answers from the other side. It wasn't until the latter half of the first quarter when Capital began to string a few goals together and put some distance between themselves and the Tigers, leading 6-3 in the first moments of the second quarter.
The second quarter showed only three goals. Capital goals bookended the period with Jonathan Kilgallon scoring the first and sixth overall, and
Mason Spaulding striking the second. At the half, the score stood at 7-4 in favor of the Capital squad.
The third period was an inverse of the second, this time with Wittenberg goals providing the opening and closing of the quarter.
Brenden Pelton split the two Tiger scores with an unassisted gem, fighting through excessive contact to sling the ball past the keeper. Three-quarters of the way through, Cap led 8-6.
In the final fifteen, the Comets caught fire and blazed the back of the net. Within the first forty seconds, Capital added two goals to their total courtesy of
Brenden Pelton and
Chase Snyder. Following a man-up goal by Wittenberg, the Comets would add two more, this time only taking a total of ten seconds to do the task.
Jake Belt was responsible for both. This was only the beginning of a larger five-goal run to get to 15 on the day. The Tigers would add two to their score before Cap passed the ball around to run out the clock, prevailing 15-9.
THE OPPONENT
Julio Novarini anchored the Tiger offense with three goals. Matt Benincasa led the team in both ground balls (5) and caused turnovers (3). Brandon Shevins was the lone goalie for Wittenberg. He made five saves.
UP NEXT
Capital kicks off conference play on Saturday, March 26, matching up against the Yellow Jackets of Baldwin Wallace University. The Comets look to even the scales at 1 p.m. EST as they go into the game with a 3-4 all-time record against BW.
