NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Behind another stellar offensive performance, the Capital University men's lacrosse team routed Hendrix College, 20-11 on Saturday afternoon. 

The Comets, who improved to 2-2 on the year with the win, are in Nashville, Tennessee playing Hendrix today and LaGrange tomorrow at Montgomery Bell Academy. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Comets started the game off back-and-forth with the Warriors before scoring five straight goals across the end of the first and start of the second quarters to open up a lead they would fail to relinquish the remainder of the game. 

First quarter goals came from Brenden Pelton (2), Mason Spaulding, Nathan Montgomery and Jake Belt. Assists were credited to Charlie Howenstine (2) and Jacob Poole. 

In the second quarter, Cap again started back-and-forth exchanging a pair of goals with Hendrix before three more Comet tallied righted the ship making the score 11-5 just before the break. 

Second quarter goals went the way of Spaulding (2), Montgomery, Peloton, and Poole (2). Assists were dished out by Montgomery and Belt (2). 

In the third quarter, Capital scored three straight goals before Hendrix would answer with two. Those goals were netted by Spaulding, Pelton and Max Schillig. Howenstine and Belt provided assists.
 
The Warriors then netted two more before Spaulding cashed in a pair of goals just before the end of the third thanks to assists by Poole and Drew Bolen. 

Goals in the fourth quarter to put the cherry on top of the game came from Poole, Peloton, Spaulding and Aiden Manning. Assists went the way of Montgomery, Howenstine, and Belt. 

THE NUMBERS
Capital dominated the ground ball game, winning 52 pick-ups compared to Hendrix's 42. The Comets were also significantly more efficient on man-up play, scoring three of their six tries, while Hendrix was 0-for-3. 

Mason Spaulding netted seven goals, giving him 15 goals in the last two games. He added five ground balls and three caused turnovers to his output today. 

Brenden Pelton scored a career-high five goals today, along with pinging the post half a dozen times on his 13 shots. 

Jake Belt continued his distribution effort, finishing with a goal and four assists. He added five ground balls as well. 

Charlie Howenstine kept pace with Belt, recording four assists as well. 

Jacob Poole matched career highs with goals and assists, finishing with three and two, respectively. 

To go with Spaulding and Belt, Nathan Montgomery and Drew Bolen collected five ground balls each. With these career-high numbers from all four, none could keep pace with freshman Gino Nave who scooped up an incredible 10 ground balls. His double-digit GB number marked the first time since April 27, 2021 that a Comet recorded 10 or more ground balls. 

Mason Spaulding and Ethan Adkins each caused three turnovers for the Comet unit that caused 13 as a team. 

Freddy Noday and Arnold Fitzharris combined to win 18 faceoffs on the day. Noday won 11 and Fitzharris was successful on seven. 

Sam McInturf stopped 10 shots in his winning effort. Freshman Robert Guise didn't face a shot in relief, making his collegiate debut in the cage. 

THE OPPONENT
Goals - Spencer Dorfneilsen (4)
Assists - Five Players (1)
Ground Balls - Matthew Parsons (8)
Caused Turnovers - Three Players (2)
Faceoff Wins - Parsons (15)
Saves - Ian Domeika (12)

UP NEXT
As mentioned, Capital will stay in Nashville to take on LaGrange College tomorrow at 2 p.m. CST (3 p.m. EST). Live stats and video will be available on athletics.capital.edu.