Koala Men's Lacrosse Picks Up First Win in Program History
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Columbia (SC) (,) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
|
Midland (,) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
ST. LOUIS, MO - The Columbia College Men's Lacrosse team picked up their first win in program history on Sunday defeating NAIA foe Midland University (Neb.) 8-6 in a neutral site game in St. Louis.
The Koala men, who received three goals apiece from freshmen midfielders Gavin Gordon and Noah Norwood, improve to 1-2 in their inaugural season with the historic win. Midland got on the board early to lead 1-0 before CC added two straight goals to lead 2-1. However, Midland added two late goals to close the quarter to take back the lead at 3-2.
In the second quarter, Norwood scored CC's third goal at the 7:52 minute mark to tie the game before MU scored with 16 seconds left in the first half to lead 4-3 at the break. The Koalas then stepped up their defense to shut out the Warriors in the third quarter outscoring them 3-0 to take a 6-4 lead into the fourth on goals from
Columbia kept up their stellar play in the 4th quarter scoring two more goals to continue their 5-0 run on back-to-back goals from Gordon to take an 8-4 lead. CC kept Midland scoreless until the final minute of action when the Warriors added two late goals, but it was too little too late as Columbia held on for the win.
Columbia's freshman faceoff specialist Kai Correia won 8 of 17 faceoffs on the afternoon and led in ground balls picked up with seven while freshmen attackmen Ander Huffines and Tanner Kuykendall also added goals in the win. Freshman midfielder William Tanks added three ground balls and two shots on goal as well while freshman midfielder JC Beacham and Huffines each caused three MU turnovers as well.
Senior goalie Fin Landi made eight saves on 14 shots on goal in 60 minutes of action while the Koalas outshot Midland 47-29 overall including 15-4 in the second quarter and 14-3 in the third. Norwood led with 12 shots total and seven on goal while Huffines added 10 shots.
The men will next be in action on Saturday when they head up to the Spartanburg area to battle Mt. Vernon Nazarene (OH) in a non-conference NAIA game at James F. Byrnes HS at 3:30 pm. Columbia will then face Michigan-Dearborn on Sunday in Montreat, NC at 4:00 pm.