The Elizabethtown College men’s lacrosse team continued their hot streak with its fifth and sixth consecutive wins over top 20 opponent, York College and Landmark opponent, University of Scranton.
Etown had its second win in program history over a ranked opponent. Senior Russ LeClair had a five goal first half performance which included a hat trick in the first quarter of play. LeClair’s efforts helped put York in some trouble early on.
Dan Kaplan of York started the scoring for the opposition with just 31 seconds into the game. But a minute later, sophomore Nick Specht spun off a Spartan defender and ripped a shot that would soon tie the game at one a piece. Andrew Gamble of York would soon give the Spartans a 2-1 lead after Specht’s goal, but it was the impressive scoring from LeClair that really opened up the game.
Etown continued their excellent play as sophomore captain Joe Clark scored to make it 5-2. Then LeClair, who set new single game career highs in points, found a slashing sophomore Mike Specht for a score, which was his first of three goals. The Blue Jays were able to take a commanding 8-2 lead heading into halftime.
The Blue Jays came out in the second half just as hot when junior captain Jake Snyder ran the field to score a goal making it 9-2. Gamble and Tyler Hutson helped the Spartans capitalize on some scoring opportunities, but the Blue Jays lead was too much at this point.
The Blue Jays defense remained solid, led behind senior goalkeeper Chris Wenger who had ten saves. Reigning conference defender of the week, senior Matt Frey had a pair of caused turnovers as well as a pair of ground balls. Team captain and defender Jake Snyder commented on how big of a win this is for their program, “It’s huge for our program because it shows how much growth we’ve had since getting a new coach. It shows what we can accomplish when we play up to our potential.”
The Blue Jays streak continued to six consecutive games won when they traveled to Landmark rival, Scranton this past Saturday. The Blue Jays were able to remain unbeaten in conference play as they held of the Royals 5-4.
Sophomore Luke Stephens recorded his first goal of the season with a little over a minute and a half played in the game. Will Mahle of Scranton, however, was able to find the back of the net, which tied the game up at one a piece. In the second quarter, M. Specht scored the only goal for the Blue Jays, which helped them take a 2-1 lead heading into the half.
The third quarter was dominated by the Blue Jays as they outscored Scranton 3-0 to take a commanding lead into the last quarter of play. M. Specht was able to capture the first goal in the third quarter at the 8:22 mark, which was followed by a goal from Clark off a LecClair assist. Clark tallied his 19th goal of the year. Clark was able to return the favor to LeClair, who also scored his 19th goal of the year.
The Royals had one final push in the last quarter when they scored three times in the last five minutes to make it 5-4. However, their efforts would fall short and the Blue Jays held on to a 5-4 victory. N. Specht was pleased with the team’s efforts over the past week. “The win over Scranton was a huge win for our program. It was a statement to the Landmark that Elizabethtown is not a team to look passed.”
The Blue Jays will travel to face the Catholic University Cardinals on Saturday at 1p.m. and look to extend their winning streak to seven games. The Cardinals are currently in a six-way tie for second place in the Landmark Conference with a 1-1 record. The Blue Jays are atop of the Landmark standings with a 2-0 record, while Drew University sits at the bottom, winless in their first two conference games.
After Saturday’s game in Washington, D.C., the Blue Jays will interrupt their conference games with a non-conference matchup at Immaculata University to start off the month of April. The Blue Jays will take on Merchant Marine Academy on April 4.
