Ravens Outlast Bison

The Anderson University men's lacrosse team traveled to West Virginia to take on the Bethany College Bison in a non-conference match-up. During the road contest the Ravens (2-2) secured an 8-7 victory over the Bison (2-2).

The Bison got off to a quick start, scoring their first goal of the game with 14 minutes, 11 seconds on the clock. Just three minutes later they followed with their second goal to take a 2-0 lead over the Ravens. Anderson got their first goal of the match with 8:36 left in the first quarter. Josh Rhodes recorded the Ravens goal off a Clayton Emery. In the final seconds of the quarter, Bethany added on one more goal to take a 3-1.

Second quarter action once again saw the Bison get on the board first. This time it would take a few minutes before the goal came. At 10:38, Bethany held a 4-1 lead over Anderson. The rest of the quarter went in favor of the Ravens as they went on an offensive attack to tie up the game. Johnathan Havener got the action going with a goal at 7:59. A few minutes later at 5:33, Emery made it a one score game off an unassisted goal. Then, with 18 seconds left in the quarter, Logan Lawrence recorded an unassisted goal to make it a 4-4 game heading into halftime.

Coming out of halftime it was a back-and-forth battle for the rest of the game. A Zach Thompson goal off an Emery assist to give the Ravens a 5-4 lead, their first lead of the game, with 9:22 remaining in the third quarter. With 5:50 on the clock, the Bison tied it up in a man-up situation to make it a 5-5 game. Bethany then took a 6-5 lead that went until the end of the quarter.

Quickly in the fourth quarter, the Ravens' Havener scored to tie the game up 6-6 with 14:40 left in the contest. Two minutes later, Havener followed with another goal in a man-up situation. Then, at 10:55, the Ravens took a two-goal lead from a Rhodes goal to lead the Bison 8-6. Bethany quickly answered to make it once again a one goal game with 9:33 remaining. Neither team could capitalize on any more offensive opportunities, ultimately allowing the Ravens to secure an 8-7 road victory.

Havener ended the day with a hat-trick, leading the Ravens in goals as he took 12 shots, 11 of which were on goal. Eric Fisher recorded 20 saves on 27 shots faced during the contest in goal. Kenny Bentley won 11-out-of-18 faceoffs for Anderson, while recording seven ground balls. Michael Ertel notched seven ground balls and two caused turnovers. Havener totaled four caused turnovers and six ground balls. Blake Seifert contributed six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Mason Bratcher added two caused turnovers. In total, the Ravens outshot the Bison 48-36.

Head Coach Jacob Ashton had the following to say about the contest: "We found a way to win today, Kenny [Bentley] battled all day at the X and helped us control the possession game." He continued to say, "Mason [Bratcher] did a great job defensively and helped us create transition opportunities off our clears. Eric [Fisher] had another great day in goal. It's great to have Logan [Lawrence] back in limited action as he was able to put up a crucial goal for us."

Anderson will be back at Macholtz Stadium on Wednesday as they host Wilmington College (Ohio) (2-2) at 5PM.