A huge first quarter was once again all the Pirates needed as Southwestern men's lacrosse cruised to a 16-6 routing of Huntingdon College on Sunday afternoon. The win improves the Pirates to 7-7 on the season.

SU took control early, scoring three goals in the first six minutes. Michael Villa was huge in igniting the Pirate offense, assisting on the first two goals. Huntingdon responded with one goal, but Southwestern extended their lead further with a goal from Jamie Long, assisted by Connor Koper, and an unassisted goal by Tyler Downing to lead by four, 5-1, with six and a half to play in the first.

After another Huntingdon goal, SU punched in two with under a minute to play in the first quarter to lead by five, 7-2, heading into the second frame.

The Pirates turned up the heat defensively in the second quarter as they allowed just one goal while scoring four to extend their lead to eight, 11-3, by the time the halftime buzzer sounded.

It was smooth sailing the rest of the way as the Pirates were never threatened. SU was +10 in shots and +9 in groundballs while committing eight fewer turnovers in the game.  Long and Carter Cowan once again led in scoring with four goals each while Tyler Downing added three, Jackson Timian two and one each from Villa, Alex Michael and Nick Sivon. Villa also the led the Pirates in assists with three.

AJ Cole was strong between the pipes as he recorded ten saves to earn the win. Jeremy Tufnell caused a team high three turnovers while Connor Smith led SU with six groundballs.

Southwestern returns to SCAC action in their next contest, facing Colorado College on Sunday, April 14^th in Colorado Springs, Colo. Game time is set for 1 p.m. CST.