COLUMBUS, Ohio – On a picturesque day at Bernlohr Stadium, the Capital University men's lacrosse team put forth a picturesque performance against Adrian College, dominating their way to a 18-11 win in their home opener.
In what had great play all around, the day was certainly highlighted by a single-game record eight goals from
Mason Spaulding, the tying of a single-game record 25 faceoff wins by
Freddy Noday, and the solid numbers put up by
Jake Belt in which he tied the single game record for assists with five and was just one point off the school record for points in a game with nine.
The much-needed victory moved the Comets to 1-2 on the year while Adrian dropped to 2-3 overall.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Capital jumped all over the Bulldogs early and established themselves in the lead after just 27 seconds of the game had elapsed. This lead would hold the remainder of the game as Cap just ran rampant on the offensive end of the field.
On the heels of
Freddy Noday's stellar performance at the X, Capital scored in bunches to get the job done.
First,
Mason Spaulding and
Jake Belt would score less than a minute apart to open the scoring. From there, a
Brenden Pelton goal gave Cap a 3-1 lead. Just 22 seconds after Adrian scored to make it 3-2, Spaulding netted his second of the game off a feed from
Jake Belt. Just 16 seconds later, after Noday won the faceoff, Belt struck an unassisted goal of his own.
Before the first quarter was over, Spaulding capped off a hat-trick scoring on yet another assist by Belt ust 28 seconds after an Adrian goal had been scored.
In the second quarter, Capital ran rampant, scoring six straight to blow the game open. Spaulding cashed in on back-to-back man-up goals – both off assists from Belt. Spaulding scored another on a feed from
Charlie Howenstine. Belt netted twice and Howenstine got a goal of his own. The two goals from Belt and Howenstine's goal all came within 23 seconds of each other as Noday did his job at the X, winning all the faceoffs in that span and even assisting Howenstine's strike.
Ahead 12-5 at the break, Capital cruised through the third and fourth quarters, scoring just three goals in each frame to claim the 18-11 win.
In the third, Spaulding,
Max Schillig, and
Ty Chase would find the back of the cage, as Howenstine and
Aiden Manning recorded assists.
In the fourth,
Brenden Pelton scored twice and Spaulding capped off his program record eighth goal of the game.
Jacob Poole, Belt, and Howenstine all had assists in the fourth.
THE NUMBERS
Mason Spaulding's eight goals broke the program record of seven that had been achieved five times before – once by Spaulding himself and four times by Brennan O'Callaghan. All eight of Spaulding's shots that found the frame beat the Adrian goalie.
Freddy Noday put in a shift at the faceoff dot, winning 25 of his 29 duals, a mark that tied the school record for most wins in a single game by both Michael Trefethern (2014) and
Mikey Collins (2021). At one point, Noday had won 16 straight faceoffs to keep the momentum in the Comets' favor. Noday finished with six ground balls of his own.
Jake Belt's nine point afternoon was just one point away from the single-game record of 10, set by Brennan O'Callaghan in 2015. Belt finished with four goals and five assists. His five assists puts him in a three-way tie for most assists in a single-game, leveling him with O'Callaghan (2016) and
Jack Scharner (2022).
Charlie Howenstine put in a career performance, scoring once and dishing out four assists. He added three ground balls to his day too.
As part of the faceoff round-up crew,
Dylan Comella recorded a career-high seven ground balls. He was leveled with
Gino Nave who also picked up seven loose balls to set his career-best.
Other leaders in the ground ball department were
Austin Yanichko (3),
Jacob Poole (3),
Aiden Manning (3), and
Brenden Pelton (3).
Wreaking havoc on the opposition and leading the caused turnover department was
Gino Nave with three.
Sam McInturf made 12 saves in the cage.
THE OPPONENT
Goals - Michael Jonas (7)
Assists - Austin Selvage (2)
Ground Balls - Nic Palomba (4)
Caused Turnovers - AJ Hayes / Cameron Reed (3)
Faceoff Wins - Gino Capicchioni (4)
Saves - Ethan Krupp (14)
UP NEXT
Capital will now travel to Nashville, Tennessee this weekend for a two-game set. On Saturday, the Comets will play Hendrix College at 2 p.m. and that will be followed by a 2 p.m. game on Sunday vs. LaGrange College. Both start times are in central time, so they will begin at 3 p.m. EST. Capital Athletics will be able to provide live statistics for those unable to make the trip, but unfortunately will not be able to provide a video stream due to resources at the neutral location.
