The Aquinas men's lacrosse team got off to a great start in the 2021 WHAC Tournament, jumping out to an 8-0 lead over visiting Taylor on Wednesday (Apr. 21) before cruising to the 20-4 quarterfinal victory. AQ had eight different goals scorers in the win at the AQ Athletic Field and advances to Friday's semifinals.
The third-seeded Saints made quick work of the sixth-seeded Trojans, scoring twice in the first three minutes to establish early control of the game. With the victory, AQ improves to 5-3 on the season, while Taylor's season ends with a 5-10 record.
Aquinas had four different players score the opening four goals on Wednesday, as
Matt Conrad,
Walker West,
Mitch Haggart, and
Zachary Sweet netted goals to open a 4-0 lead. Second quarter goals from Haggart and
Hunter Roberts made it an 8-0 advantage midway through the quarter.
AQ was on top 11-1 at halftime after goals from West, Haggart, and
Gavin Kleynenberg. The lead extended to 14-3 at the end of the third quarter and the Saints scored six of the seven goals in the fourth quarter to finish off the tournament win.
Aquinas outshot the Trojans by a 49-30 margin and forced Taylor into 36 turnovers.
Clayton Boerigter made eight saves in net for the Saints to earn the victory.
Haggart, named NAIA National Offensive Player of the Week yesterday, netted eight goals and an assist, while West added three goals and a pair of assists. Conrad, Sweet, and
Nash West scored two goals apiece, while both Conrad and West each tallied four assists.
Matt Wagner recorded seven groundballs and three caused turnovers, while
Walker West and
Grant Caswell each caused a pair of turnovers.
Aidan Donnelly picked up five groundballs, while
Nash West and
Sam Asare-Konadu added four each.
Aquinas will match up with #2 seed Concordia on Friday (Apr. 23) in Ann Arbor in the WHAC Semifinals. When the teams met on Mar. 31 at CUAA, the Cardinals were victorious 13-12 on a goal in the final three minutes. Concordia earned a bye in Wednesday's opening round as the second seed.
