Anderson Rolls Past Mount St. Joseph

The Anderson University men's lacrosse team picked up its second Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference (HCLC) victory on Wednesday.

Anderson (8-5, 2-0) took on the Mount St. Joseph University Lions (3-11, 0-2) in Cincinnati, Ohio. The road contest saw the Ravens secure and come home with a 17-9 victory over the Lions.

Anderson began the first quarter with three unanswered goals to take the early lead. Johnathan Havener put the Ravens on the board first with an unassisted goal at the 8 minute, 59 second mark left in the quarter. Sean Terry scored just over a minute later at 7:51 with an unassisted goal of his own. Josh Rhodes then got in on the scoring action with another Raven unassisted goal at 7:09 to give Anderson a 3-0 lead. Mount St. Joseph broke Anderson's scoring streak at 6:36 by getting their first goal of the game. In the remainder of the quarter, the Ravens tacked on three more goals. With five minutes remaining, Michael Ertel scored off a Havener assist. Havener then picked up another assist when Rhodes found the back of the net for the second time in the first quarter. Cole Whatley put his name on the scoring sheet for the final goal of the quarter in a man-up situation and off a Rhodes assist. At the end of the first quarter, the Ravens held a 6-1 lead over the Lions.

During the second quarter, the Ravens put up four straight man-up goals. Second quarter scoring started when Rhodes earned a hat trick at 13:51 with his third goal of the game, this one being unassisted. Logan Lawrence joined in on the Ravens scoring with a goal just 23 seconds later off a Rhodes assist. Rhodes then picked up yet another assist when Whatley scored to give the Ravens a 9-1 lead. Mount St. Joseph tried to turn the action around the remainder of the quarter, going on a four-goal scoring streak between 6:45 and 2:52. At halftime, Anderson still held a comfortable five-goal lead as they lead Mount St. Joseph 10-5.

The Lions opened up the third quarter when they found the back of the net at 11:31. At 10:40, Clayton Emery gave the Ravens a 11-6 lead when he scored off a Whatley assist in a man-up situation. The Lions put up one more goal during the quarter at 8:20 before the Ravens found the back of the net two more times. Lawrence earned his second goal of the game off a Rhodes assist at 7:51. His goal was followed by Havener's second of the game as well at 5:28.

Entering the fourth and final quarter, the Ravens led the Lions 13-7. Rhodes found his final goal off the game from a Terry assist at 10:41. The Lions responded just over a minute later with their eight goal. Anderson then put up back-to-back goals. The first came from a man-up situation when Emery scored on a Rhodes assist at 9:00. Emery then scored again at 8:23 to give Anderson their 16^th goal. Both teams recorded one more goal before the final whistle. The Lions got theirs at 5:44 before Ertel closed out the game with a man-up goal at 3:09. At the final whistle, the Ravens secured a 17-9 victory over the Lions.

Anderson ended the game with a total of 51 shots, 34 of which were on frame. Mount St. Joseph recorded 34 shot attempts, with 15 on goal. Rhodes had himself a game for the Ravens, leading the way with four goals and five assists. Ertel and Emery both added on three goals. Three Ravens: Havener, Lawrence and Whatley all found the back of the net twice during the contest. Havener added on three assists while Whatley had one. Terry ended the game with one goal and one assist.

The Ravens recorded 53 ground balls while the Lions had 27. Anderson ended the game with 29 turnovers versus Mount St. Joseph's 39. Anderson's Kenny Bentley won 18-of-30 faceoffs. Justin Bemis notched nine ground balls and four caused turnovers for the Ravens.

Anderson will now close out their regular season HCLC play on Saturday at Macholtz Stadium. The Ravens are set to host the Hanover College Panthers (9-4, 2-0) at 1p.m. in a battle for first place in the HCLC North Division.