Record-setting performance in goal by Cole Zaferakis lifts Men's Lacrosse past Elmhurst (Ill.)
By Tim Glon
ADA — Freshman keeper Cole Zaferakis (Liverpool, N.Y) had a school record 19 saves in goal to lead the Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team to a 9-5 victory over Elmhurst (Ill.) on Saturday afternoon at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
The Polar Bears improve to 2-0 on the young season, while the Bluejays fall to 0-1.
Zaferakis broke his own school record of 17 saves set in his first career start on Friday in an 8-6 win over Southern Virginia.
In two games, the freshman has stopped 36 of 47 shots on goal, an impressive save percentage of .766.
Offensively, senior Pat Berthelsen-Leon (Bethpage, N.Y.) picked up his first career hat trick with three goals. He finished with two assists and five points on the day.
Junior Joe O'Connell (Fishers, Ind.) had two goals and senior Patrick Moran (Austin, Tex./Bowie) had a goal and two assists for ONU.
EC was led by Ben Luke with three goals and Marcus Yandall with two goals.
Northern scored seven consecutive goals over the final 19:38 of the first half to break a 1-all tie and take an 8-1 lead into intermission.
Berthelsen-Leon made it 9-1 with a goal just 1:39 into the third quarter.
But the Bluejays would not go away quietly, scoring once in the third period and twice in the first 4:19 of the fourth quarter to get within 9-4 with 10:41 left.
Northern would burn 2:16 off the clock on one possession to get the time down to just 2:48 to play.
Zaferakis would stop the next five EC shots on goal until Yandall finally got one in to make it 9-5 with just 1:59 left.
Zaferakis would stop two more Bluejay shots until an ONU clear with salt the game away.
Elmhurst out-shot Ohio Northern 36-29, which included a 14-4 advantage in the fourth quarter, and led the ground ball battle 34-17.
The Polar Bears will return to action on Feb. 22 when they host Alma (Mich.) at 1 pm at Kerscher Stadium.
