COLUMBUS, Ohio – The third-seeded Capital University men's lacrosse team (9-8, 7-2 OAC) met up with sixth-seeded Marietta (7-10, 4-5 OAC) in the first round of the OAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament on Saturday afternoon, breezing by the Pioneers by a score of 16-4. The Comets will now advance to face second-seeded Baldwin Wallace in the OAC Semifinals on Wednesday night, May 1st at 7 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Cap got up quick, averaging a goal per minute for the first seven minutes before Marietta even had a chance to retaliate. The Pios would finally get on the board at the 6:45-mark of the first quarter to make it a 7-1 game before the CU offense struck again and made it 8-1 by the first break. Jake Belt and Ty Chase led the charge with three and two respectively, joined by Mason Spaulding, Logan Telesz, and Jacob Poole.

The Purple and White would begin to slow things down to maintain possession – and a strong lead – lead in the second quarter, adding only three to their total but keeping the Pioneers scoreless in the period. Spaulding, Poole, and Chase were the scorers for Capital.

The Comets would keep the same strategy for the rest of the game, outscoring Marietta 3-2 in the third quarter and 2-1 to secure the 16-4 win and advance to the conference semifinals. Anthony Carusone joined the scoring festivities in the third quarter along with Poole and Belt. Colton Woods would do the same in the fourth quarter with Spaulding putting in the other.

THE NUMBERS
Jake Belt led the way offensively with four goals as well as one ground ball.

Ty Chase was the leading points-getter with six off of three goals and three assists. He also grabbed four ground balls. 

Mason Spaulding put up three goals and one assist for four points, with two caused turnovers. He and Eric Patterson led the team in ground balls with seven apiece.

 Jacob Poole put in three goals and grabbed one ground ball. 

Anthony Carusone, Logan Telesz, and Colton Woods would score the remaining three goals for the Comets. Carusone also dished out an assists – finishing with two points – and picked up two ground balls. 

Freddy Noday (8-for-10) and Tyler Lieu (7-for-10) each took 10 faceoff attempts with Jayden Walter (3-for-4) taking the remainder. Noday nabbed six ground balls, leaving four for Lieu and one for Walter.

Gino Nave (2 CT, 2 GB), Jonathan Hart (1 CT, 3 GB), Max Schillig (1 CT, 3 GB), Mason Patrick (1 CT, 2 GB), James Howenstine (1 CT, 1 GB), Austin Yanichko (1 CT, 1 GB), Kaison Durham (1 CT, 1 GB), Devin Flynn (1 CT), Nathan Montgomery (2 GB), Dylan Christopherson (2 GB), Drew Bolen (1 GB), Zen Kropp (1 GB), Ian Zaletel (1 GB), and Truman Kennedy (1 GB) were responsible for the remaining defensive stats.

Luc Kadlic (9-8) picked up his ninth win of the season, making nine saves in the process and keeping a save percentage of 69.2%.

UP NEXT
The Comets will head north to Berea on Wednesday, May 1st to face second-seeded Baldwin Wallace at 7 p.m.