Creve Coeur, MO – The Aquinas College men's lacrosse team continues to make waves during its spring break campaign. Determined to show the NAIA what they are capable of, the Saints came out of the weekend with two statement victories, defeating both the Owls and the Trojans by identical 24-7 scores. Hard work and playing the game the right way have been staples of AQ's approach all season, and the Saints stayed resilient through physical, chippy play all weekend, never wavering as they secured the pair of wins.

Aquinas 24, William Woods 7

From the opening faceoff, the Saints wasted little time setting the tone as William Larriuz secured possession for Aquinas. TJ Murphy struck first for AQ, but the Owls answered less than twenty seconds later to even the score at 1–1. Aquinas quickly regained control as Collin Wildman found the back of the net, followed by another goal from Murphy to extend the lead to 3–1. The Saints fired off five additional shots that narrowly missed before Mitchell Pridgeon slipped in a goal with just 14 seconds remaining in the period, giving Aquinas a 4–1 advantage heading into the second.

Oliver Modderman opened the scoring in the second period, though William Woods managed to break through the Saints' defense to cut the deficit to 5–2. Wildman responded with his second goal of the game, but the Owls once again answered to keep themselves within reach at 6–3. Aquinas then erupted offensively, sparked by Ian Wright's first goal of the afternoon. The Saints followed with five straight goals, Evan Doan, assisted by Modderman, Murphy completing his hat trick, Dillon Wieschhorster netting his first, and back-to-back scores from Pridgeon, to surge ahead 12–3.

Murphy opened the second half with his fourth goal of the day. Jake Koning added to the momentum with a goal of his own before Braeden Williams capitalized on a man-up opportunity. Williams struck again moments later on an assist from Murphy, and Murphy followed with his fifth goal to stretch the lead to 18–3. The Owls managed to tally two goals, but Aquinas quickly responded as Ben Cash scored off an assist from Brandon Klingelsmith. Williams and Murphy connected once more to close out the third quarter with the Saints comfortably in front, 20–5.

In the fourth quarter, Aquinas slowed the pace to control possession and settle the offense. Pridgeon opened the scoring in the final frame, followed by goals from Murphy and Williams. Pridgeon added one more, assisted by Cooper Croskey, to push the Saints ahead 24–5. The Owls closed the contest with two late goals, but Aquinas secured the convincing 24–7 victory.

Coaches Comments 

"We started the game a bit slower than we would have liked but picked up the pace in the second and third quarters. The game got a bit chippy down the stretch, and I'm proud of the guys for maintaining their composure and focusing on the next play, said head coach Peter Treppa. "We had 10 different goal scorers throughout the game, and our freshmen stepped up and capitalized on their opportunities. Mitchell Pridgeon buried five goals and really ignited our offense in the second quarter. Will Larriuz dominated on faceoffs and earned us the possessions we needed to build momentum and go on several scoring runs. We'll watch the film and make some adjustments for our game tomorrow against a talented Missouri Baptist team that has the ability to win faceoffs and play fast in transition.

Aquinas 24, Missouri Baptist 7

In similar fashion to Friday's matchup, the Saints wasted no time getting down to business, claiming six unanswered goals in just five minutes of play to gain a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. Williams opened the scoring for AQ with an assist from Wildman. Just one minute later, Williams picked up his second goal of the game, this time coming from Wieschhorster. Modderman was next to get a piece of the action, followed by Murphy. Cash then got in on the scoring with an assist from Eli Smith before Wildman closed out the quarter with another goal. Aquinas shut out Missouri Baptist in the opening frame to take a 6-0 lead into the second quarter.

Williams kicked off the second quarter with a goal from Murphy to complete his hat trick on the day. Wildman then claimed his hat trick as well, assisted by Williams, before Pridgeon and Wright each scored their first goals of the game to give the Saints a monstrous 10-goal lead. The Trojans found some fire of their own and rattled off the next three goals to cut the deficit to seven, but Williams and Cash each responded with goals of their own. William Larriuz wasn't satisfied, winning the faceoff and then racing down to score his first-ever collegiate goal to regain the 10-goal advantage for AQ. MBU managed to sneak in one more goal before the half ended with Aquinas leading 13-4.

The second half got off to a slower start, with the first goal not coming until eight minutes in when Wieschhorster found the net for the first time on the day, assisted by Doan. The Trojans added one more goal, but Pridgeon responded with back-to-back scores followed by a pair of goals from Wright to push the Saints ahead 18-5. One final goal from Pridgeon closed out the third period with Aquinas holding a commanding 19-5 lead.

Wieschhorster and Wright then connected on another goal before Doan added a solo score to keep the momentum rolling. Jaiden Woodson followed with his first collegiate goal to put AQ up 22-5. Missouri Baptist added back-to-back goals late, but Isaiah Ramirez answered with a goal of his own before Owen Greiner notched his first-ever collegiate goal to cap off the 24-7 victory. 

Coaches Comments 

"Unbelievable performance this weekend from the boys, full team effort up and down the roster" said assistant coach Matt Wagner. "13 different goal scorers today against Missouri Baptist and an incredible performance at the face-off!" 

By the Numbers 

• Colin Wildman led the Saints defensively with four caused turnovers, followed by Tobin Brems, Oliver Modderman, and Mitchell Pridgeon, who each added two. As a team, Aquinas forced 17 caused turnovers against the Owls alone and totaled 19 across the weekend.

• William Larriuz dominated the ground ball battle, collecting 16, while Colin Wildman added 10. TJ Murphy finished with nine and Cooper Croskey picked up seven. The Saints were relentless on loose balls, scooping up an astounding 98 ground balls over the course of the weekend.

• Offensively, Mitchell Pridgeon and Braeden Williams led the way with eight goals each. Murphy followed closely with seven, while Ian Wright added five. Aquinas showcased impressive scoring depth as 14 different players found the back of the net, helping the Saints combine for 48 goals across the two games.

• Jaiden Woodson, Larriuz, and Owen Greiner each recorded their first collegiate goals during the weekend.

• Murphy also led the team in playmaking with five assists, followed by Pridgeon, Williams, and Wildman with two apiece.

• At the faceoff, Larriuz delivered a dominant performance, going 33-for-42 on the weekend.

Up Next 

The Saints will return to their home turf on Wednesday, March 11 at 6:00 p.m. for their first conference matchup of the season. Aquinas is set to take on UM-Dearborn and will look to carry the momentum from its strong spring break performances into the start of conference play.