MEQUON, Wis. – The CUW men's lacrosse team returned to the win column on Saturday when they handed the Fighting Scots of Monmouth their first loss of the season. The Falcons improve to 1-1 on the year with the 15-6 victory.
Freshman Max Esposito (Gaithersburg, Md.) wrapped around the net after a pass from sophomore Caleb Ruger (Grafton, Wis.) to start the scoring on Saturday.
Three minutes later, freshman Chase Drexler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) scored his first collegiate goal when he sank a short-angled shot high on the net with another assist credited to Caleb Ruger.
After a Monmouth goal, freshman Pat Ryan (Western Springs, Ill.) charged the net off a feed from Max Esposito.
Junior Jack Gromosky (Danville, Ind.) shot a laser into the net with 3:18 left in the first quarter with Max Esposito adding his second assist on the afternoon.
CUW took a 4-2 lead into the second quarter
Senior Keijo Day (Esko, Minn.) started the second-quarter scoring with a shot right in front of the net off a beautiful feed from Caleb Ruger.
With 11:53 left in the first half, Pat Ryan added to the lead after a spin move and a pass from Chase Drexler.
Max Esposito ran past a pair of defenders and then flew the ball past the keeper with 8:00 left in the quarter.
Freshman Gio Nowotarski (Reading, Pa.) continued to pour onto the lead with a blast to the top of the net for his first collegiate goal with Chase Drexler adding another assist.
Max Esposito took the ball in and ran the ball into the back of the net to push the lead up to 9-2 at halftime.
Pat Ryan scored 14 seconds into the third quarter off a pass from senior Kyle Fuller (Roseville, Minn.).
Keijo Day ran a reverse move and left the Scots in the dust off an assist from Esposito.
Gio Nowotarski then stormed down the field and toss the ball in the net 11 seconds after the goal from Day.
Freshman Hans Milching (Cockeysville, Md.) joined the scoring party with his first collegiate goal off an assist from Keijo Day.
Caleb Ruger started the fourth-quarter scoring with a goal off an assist from Chase Drexler.
Drexler found the back of the net again with 11:17 left with senior Chris Smith (South Elgin, Ill.) earning his first assist of the season.
Jeff Knapp scored the next two goals of the game for Monmouth and the Fighting Scots held a 3-0 advantage in the final 11 minutes of the contest.
The CUW attack peppered the Monmouth net with 61 shots, with 41 on the net on Saturday. Pat Ryan led the effort with nine shots.
Junior Adam Nichols (Meridian, Idaho) collected seven saves in the victory. Junior Evan Leden (Waukegan, Ill.) saved the lone shot he faced in relief.
The Falcons picked up 31 ground balls in the victory. Jack Gromosky led the flock with seven.
The Blue and White caused 11 turnovers on Saturday with senior John Cole (Hastings, Minn.) causing a game-high three.
Noah Brandt won 15 faceoffs against the Fighting Scots.
The 15 goals and the nine-goal margin are the most for the Falcons since the 21-4 victory against Concordia Chicago on April 9, 2021. It is the most at Fitting Field since the 17-3 victory over Northland on Feb. 15, 2020.
The Falcons return to action Wednesday at Dubuque.
