Freshmen Lead as Men’s Lacrosse Holds Off Roberts Wesleyan, 12-11, in Season Opener

Photo following Logan Stinson's game-winning goal with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter. Copyright 2020; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Dan Lauletta. February 19, 2020 vs. Roberts Wesleyan.
Photo following Logan Stinson's game-winning goal with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter. Copyright 2020; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Dan Lauletta. February 19, 2020 vs. Roberts Wesleyan.

NEWARK, Del. - - Logan Stinson and Jacob Herman teamed up five times throughout the 2020 season opener, but it was the final time that knocked out Roberts Wesleyan, 12-11, as the Wilmington University men's lacrosse team started off the year with a victory at the WU Athletics Complex.

Roberts Wesleyan (0-2) had an answer with for every Wilmington (1-0) run, scoring the final three goals in the second to tie the game, 5-5, at the half, and six straight goals spanning the third and fourth quarters to tie the game again at 11. But it was the final pairing of the Wildcat freshmen that was the difference, as Logan Stinson scored off a feed from Jacob Herman with 1:33 left which would be the game winner.

Jacob Herman got the Wildcats out to a fast start, scoring at the 13:00, 8:59, and 3:49 marks of the first quarter to give the home team a 3-1 lead after the quarter.

Stinson scored his first goal of the game to start the second quarter and again with 8:11 left in the half to give the Wildcats a 5-2 lead. But the Redhawks answered with the final three goals of the half, all within a span of 1:34 of game time, sending the game into the half deadlocked at 5-5.

The offense heated up for the Wildcats in the third quarter, scoring six straight, three on the man-advantage, to give the team an 11-5 lead with 8:43 still to play. Stinson started the scoring before Dalton Ziemba scored his first of the year. Stinson added another goal before Colyn Lyons went coast to coast to score as a defender. Keeshawn Bell had a no-look goal with 9:42 left before Jacob Herman capped the run with another spectacular goal with 8:43 to play.

The Redhawks scored the final goal of the quarter with 7:54 to play, heading into the final frame with the Wildcats up 11-6.

Roberts Wesleyan continued to push to start the fourth, scoring three goals to get to within 11-9 with 9:04 to play. The gap closed to a single goal with 7:52 to play before the Redhawks came all the way back to tie the game, 11-11, with 6:23 to play.

Each team had an extra-man opportunity with a tied game, but neither team was able to capitalize. The Redhawks had control of the ball, but freshman Keeshawn Bell forced a turnover on a clear attempt with two minutes to play, picking up the ball going on the attack. Herman then found Stinson on the far post for a one-time goal, putting the Wildcats back up, 12-11, with 1:33 to play.

Roberts Wesleyan forced a turnover and called a timeout with just over a minute to play, but a bad pass out of the timeout gave the Wildcats possession, and they were able to clear their defensive end and hang on for the final buzzer.

Stinson finished with eight points, scoring five goals with three assists. Herman finished with seven points, scoring four goals while adding three assists. Austin Wood, Noah Brock, and Noah Given led with three ground balls each while Given and Jake Mollohan had two caused turnovers each. Given made 12 saves in net for the win.

The Wildcats take to the road for their next three contests, starting with the District of Columbia on Saturday. The opening face-off is set for 12:00 p.m.