In their win against the Gwynedd Mercy Griffins, Sr. faceoff man Hudson Beaden surpassed an unthinkable 400 career wins. Bearden ended his night going 18/20 against the Griffins for a 90 percent win percentage. Bearden's 18 wins for the contest puts him at a total of 412 wins for his career at Southwestern, a truly astonishing feat for the man from Aledo, Texas. Bearden's performance ranks him at #3 in the country for faceoff win percentage.
Bearden's sustainability at the faceoff has negated opposing offenses all season, and this game would be no different. Thanks to Bearden, the Pirates' can get the ball back on offense after they score, maintaining momentum and allowing them to go on substantial scoring runs. The Pirates won the first quarter by a margin of 4-1. Fr. Matthew Sganga had two assists, while four different players kicked off the scoring for the Pirates. The Pirates possessed the ball well, with only a single turnover in the first period, even with 21 shots against the Griffins.
Offensively, the Pirates took their game to another level in the second quarter. They lowered their shots to 16 but had a deadly 44 percent shooting percentage. This efficient scoring led the Pirates to score seven goals in the second while still only having three turnovers. Sr. Cody Foster went on a scoring tear for five goals in the second quarter, six in total for the game, and two assists. A host of other Pirates put in goals in the first to take a decisive 11-4 lead at halftime.
Jr. Matthew Caldwell would return to action after being out roughly a month due to a lacerated kidney. Caldwell notched a goal on man-up thanks to fellow Jr. Jack Carolan. Carolan kept the Pirates fed throughout the night with his three assists in the stat column, also adding a goal. Freshman standouts Sganga and Cade McDonald continued to impress. McDonald ended with a hat trick, and Sganga had four points with two goals and two assists.
It was light work for the Pirate defense and goaltender Nate Blair. Blair only faced nine shots during his time in the game. The Griffins shot wildly, only putting ten shots on goal for the contest with 24 total shots. Despite four goals in the first quarter, the Pirates completely shut out the Griffins in the second half and out-ground-balled the Griffins by 47 to 18. Sr. Jack Doloszycki was a ground ball machine, picking up five GBs while Tyler Santos and Aidan Gildea had two. The game slowed down in the fourth quarter, and Jr. Tommy Saueressig had the quarter's only goal. Saueressig put the seal on a dominant win for the Pirates, administering a final score of 15-4 against the Griffins.
Men's Lacrosse goes down the road from Pennslyvania to Westminster, Maryland, to play the McDaniel College Green Terror on Sunday, March 3rd at 11:00 AM CDT.
