LYNCHBURG, VA – The Randolph College men’s lacrosse team held visiting Mitchell College (CT) to four goals and 25 shots as the WildCats set a school record for wins in a season with a 9-4 victory Saturday from WildCat Stadium in non-conference action.
Randolph (2-3) busted out of the starting gates, outscoring the Mariners (0-2) 6-0 over the first 17 minutes of play. Sophomore Colton Wood (Chula Vista, CA/Otay Ranch) opened the scoring with an unassisted tally with 7:49 left in the first quarter to put Randolph up 1-0. The goal was quickly followed by a Jon O’Hara (Yorktown, VA/Grafton) tally at 5:21.
The WildCats netted two goals in the last 36 seconds of the first quarter, one coming from junior John Croney (Wilmington, DE/Brandywine) and the other coming from sophomore Josh Borgelt (Greenville, SC/Mouldin). Wood notched his second of the game 1:11 into the second quarter with help from Bobby Crosby (Bethel, CT/Bethel). Crosby would set up the next goal as well, a man-up tally from Croney to make the score 6-0.
Mitchell finally got on the board with 1:15 left in the half, as Jordan Cook scored his first of three straight goals for the Mariners. After halftime, Cook finished back-to-back goals, separated by 1:02 of game time, to pull Mitchell to within three at 6-3. Randolph would respond with consecutive goals of its own, as Crosby scored unassisted and Wood finished a pass from John Grundy (Gainesville, VA/Battlefield) to push Randolph advantage to 8-3 going into the fourth.
Wood finished the scoring for Randolph at 12:12 of the fourth quarter with an unassisted goal, sealing the win for the WildCats. Randolph got four scores from Wood, while Crosby dished out a game-high three helpers. The story was the WildCats’ face-off dominance, as Grundy won 11-of-15 face-offs. He also corralled a game-high 10 ground balls.
Senior keeper Kevin McCracken (Annandale, VA/Annandale) wasn’t tested as much Saturday, but was there when called upon making 11 saves. Ryan Pearson (Asbury, NJ/North Hunterdon) had a monster game of six caused turnovers and five ground balls, while fellow defender Ryan Blackwell (Brambleton, VA/Briar Woods) continued his all-conference caliber year with seven ground balls.
Defender Justin Baker (New Orleans, LA/Jesuit) chalked up four caused turnovers for Randolph, which outshot Mitchell 34-25 on the contest. The WildCats also won the ground ball battle 46-31 and were successful on 24-of-26 clear attempts, thanks to the bruising effort from sophomore Anthony Mangano (North Garden, VA/Monticello). The ‘Cats special teams are superb as well, holding Mitchell to no extra-man goals in eight chances, while scoring two man-up goals in seven opportunities.
Randolph will finish its mini-homestand Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. with another non-conference battle with Albright College (PA) in WildCat Stadium.