Ottawa, Kan. — The #10 Aquinas College men's lacrosse team traveled to Ottawa, Kansas, to take on (RV) Ottawa on Monday (Mar. 11). The Saints had an early lead but ended up falling behind. The fourth quarter saw AQ separate themselves from OU as they went on a scoring spree. At the horn, the Saints had pulled away from defeat and kept their station in the winning column. #10 Aquinas defeats (RV) Ottawa 15-13.

Aquinas 15, Ottawa 13

This competitive match-up was a contest of quarters. Aquinas jumped out in front in the first by outscoring Ottawa 5-2. 

AQ was the first to crack one in the back of the net just two minutes in. Braeden Williams was the man in question with an assist from TJ Murphy. 

Five minutes later Ottawa had their equalizer. But the remainder of the quarter was all maroon. Cooper Nienhuis slung in two back-to-back, the first unassisted and the second with help from Alex Rolands. Murphy came up with a goal, assisted by Brady Waling. Rolands found himself on the goal side of things with an assist from Cade Linnemeyer. 

With under a minute to go, Ottawa found their gap and managed to exit the first with the final score. 

The second quarter is where Ottawa dug in and brought the contest to a standstill. Nine total goals were scored, only three belonged to Aquinas. At the horn, it was tied 8-8.

Scoring for the Saints were: Williams assisted by Murphy, Nienhuis assisted by Linnemeyer, and Nienhuis with help from Williams. 

Coming out of halftime OU knew they needed to keep the throttle if they wanted to come out on top. OU carried their energy from the second into the third, only three goals were scored in the third. All belonged to Ottawa. Pushing them up over AQ 11-8.

But, as Ottawa kept the throttle down, they ran out of gas. Aquinas turned the notch and tallied seven total goals and Ottawa puffed out fumes as they only managed two. 

The duo of Williams and Murphy struck first in the fourth. Ottawa answered back, making the difference 12-9. But here AQ put up six straight goals: Waling, Rolands, Waling assisted by Murphy, Waling, Nienhuis assisted by Linnemeyer, and Linnemeyer were the scratches in the scorebook. 

Ottawa had a final swing as they dashed the final goal of the game, but it wasn't enough to topple the #10 Saints.

Aquinas outlasts Ottawa and takes the win 15-13.

This win makes AQ 3-0 on the season, as Ottawa falls to an even 2-2.

By the Numbers

Nienhuis continues to find supply as the demand for goals maintains, he collects five goals in this contest. In the past three matches, Nienhuis has scored 16 total goals (6, 5, 5)

Both Brady and Williams collect their first hat tricks of the season with an additional assist.

Rolands takes two goals with one assist.

Linnemeyer notches three assists with one goal.

Murphy tallies four total assists with one goal to top it off.

Austin Hynote preserves his keeping prowess as he snatches up 17 total saves.

Up Next

The boys in maroon will continue their Kansas trip with an 8 p.m. contest on Tuesday (Mar. 12) against Saint Mary.