The #8 ranked men's lacrosse team opened its season yesterday on the road against St. Ambrose (IA). The Saints returned home from their road trip with a hard-fought 11-8 victory over the Bees to move to 1-0 on the season.
The Saints got off to a good start when just 1:14 into the game
Nash West struck for the season's opening goal. He was assisted by his brother
Walker West on the play. After the Bees tied things up,
Joey Fitzgerald took a feed from
Jon Jardis and beat the goalie for a 2-1 lead. After the Bees again tied things up,
Nash West gave the Saints the lead heading into the second quarter with another goal from Jardis. The Saints would score the first two goals of the second quarter to take a 5-2 lead, with
Jake Lee and Fitzgerald finding the back of the net. Fitzgerald would score again in the quarter to give him a first-half hat-trick, but the Bees would strike twice to make it 6-4 heading into the break.
Aquinas struck first in the second-half, this time with a
Walker West man-up goal. The Bees would score three of the next four goals to shrink the lead to 8-7 with just over nine minutes to go in the game. But the Saints finished strong thanks to their midfield play, scoring three of the games' final four goals.
Kyle Gauthier and
Nash West hooked up for what would end up being the game winner, before West and Gauthier each scored an unassisted goal to put the game out of reach.
Sam Werner continued to be strong at the faceoff-x for the Saints, winning 13-21 faceoffs against a strong opponent. He also led the team with six groundballs. The Saints defense pressured the Bees into 20 turnovers as a team and allowed just one man-up goal in seven attempts.
Clayton Boerigter made 18 saves in his 2020 debut in goal, stopping 69.2% of the shots he faced on the afternoon.
Nash West led the team with a career-high five goals, while Fitzgerald added three.
Walker West,
Jake Lee and
Kyle Gauthier had the other goals for the Saints.
Jon Jardis returned to action after missing the 2019 season and dished out four assists ,while
Blake Baker added two of his own.
Walker West and Gauthier both had an assist as well.
The Saints return to action in two weeks when they travel south to take on Tennessee Wesleyan on March 8th.
