WINCHESTER, Va. – The Capital University men's lacrosse team traveled to Shenandoah University on Saturday afternoon where they emerged with a statement 8-2 win over the ODAC conference power. 

Capital played outstanding defense in the game forcing 21 turnovers, gobbling up 33 ground balls and holding the Hornets to just two goals as Tyler Carney made 12 saves. 

On the other end of the field, the Comet offense helped out their defense, netting eight goals, thanks to a strong first quarter in which they scored five times. 

Starting the game, Capital fell behind as Shenandoah got the game's first goal just three minutes in on a strike from Dylan Taylor. Despite falling behind, Capital remained calm and leveled the score at the 7:52 mark of the quarter, thanks to an unassisted tally from Jacob Poole. Just 42 seconds later, Mason Spaulding would put Capital in front, scoring off an assist from Charlie Howenstine.  

Now in front, Capital kept their foot on the gas as Poole scored his second of the game just a minute later. Things kept going in Cap's favor Ty Chase and Landon Weihl scored a pair of quickfire goals to end the first quarter on a high for the Purple and White. 

In the second quarter, Shenandoah would score one more on an unassisted goal from Dillon Bakhsh, but that would be their final goal of the game, as it would prove to be impossible to break through the Comet defense any further. 

Despite not scoring in the second quarter, Capital added two more goals in the third quarter thanks to a pair of strikes from Mason Spaulding just 32 seconds apart. His second goal would come off an assist from Colton Woods. 

The punctuation for Capital came with 1:41 left in the game as Kaison Durham netted his first of the season on an assist from Jacob Poole. 

THE NUMBERS
Mason Spaulding scored three goals to go with three ground balls. 

Jacob Poole ended with two goals, one assist, three ground balls and one caused turnover. 

Ty Chase, Landon Weihl, and Kaison Durham would score single goals, while Ian Zaletel, Charlie Howenstine and Colton Woods added single assists. 

In defense, Gino Nave led the team with five ground balls and three caused turnovers. 

Max Schillig finished with two ground balls and three caused turnovers as well. 

Eric Patterson, Howenstine, Logan Ensign, Tyler Lieu, Dylan Christopherson, Weihl, and Tyler Carney all scooped up two ground balls each. 

Lieu and Freddy Noday split time at the faceoff dot, with Lieu finishing 4-of-7 and Noday going 2-for-6. 

Carney played the full 60 minutes in goal for Capital, making 12 saves in the game. 

UP NEXT
Capital will return to Bernlohr Stadium on Saturday, March 8th as they will host Westminster for a 1 p.m. start.