JOHN GALLAGHER
SPORTS EDITOR
On Wednesday, the Franciscan University men’s lacrosse team brought home its fourth win of the regular season, courtesy of a 16-11 victory over Muskingum University. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Barons.
The Barons contributed two first quarter goals to even the score after going down 2-0 early. The first point came from the stick of senior attacker Mike Rosaschi, whose unassisted goal was one of three on the afternoon. An unassisted score from junior midfielder Dan McCartney, whose six goals on the game prove a personal best since a mid-March contest against Earlham.
Franciscan and Muskingum University traded goals to each 4-4 by the 10:218 mark of the second quarter. From there, the Barons went on a 5-0 tear to break the game wide open. The feverish scoring streak featured a go-ahead goal from senior attacker Jonas McCaig. McCaig finished the game as the Barons’ assists leader for the contest.
McCaig assisted two of the next four goals, both scored by sophomore attacker T.M. Thomas at the 6:02 and 4:37 marks, respectively. The latter of Thomas’ two goals put the Barons ahead 9-4, after two more unassisted goals from McCartney.
A tight defensive front prevented Muskingum from finding the net before the halftime buzzer sounded. Rosaschi would assist Thomas on his fourth score of the waning afternoon. McCaig found the net less than three minutes later, registering an unassisted score to put the Barons up 11-4.
A lead of seven points became nine after consecutive scores from Rosaschi and McCartney, both efforts assisted by Thomas. Franciscan’s 13-4 lead represented their largest of the afternoon.
With just more than 7:30 left to play in the third quarter, Muskingum landed two scores past goalkeeper Grant McKeown; the freshman nevertheless logged eleven saves on the day.
Muskingum closed the third quarter with a score and open the fourth quarter with two more, in the process pulling within five points of the Barons. However, McCartney took it to the goal himself, logging his final goal on the afternoon.
The remainder of the game saw Franciscan trade goals with Muskingum; Rosaschi assistted McCaig on a score with only 3:27 remaining on the clock, and after a late Muskingum goal, the Barons were handed the 16-11 victory.
Franciscan will conclude their regular season with an away contest against La Roche College on Wednesday, April 25 at 4 p.m.