Dempsey scores 4 goals to lead Men’s Lacrosse to 18-1 win at Heidelberg
By Wes Mayberry
TIFFIN — Junior Aidan Dempsey (Silver Spring, Md./St. John's College) scored four goals to lead the Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team to an 18-1 win over Ohio Athletic Conference foe Heidelberg on Wednesday at Hoernemann Stadium.
The Polar Bears improve to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the OAC while dropping the Student Princes to 3-5, 0-2.
Dempsey had his second hat trick of the season Wednesday and added one assist for five points in the game, giving him a team-high 21 points on the season.
Senior Tyler Ferguson (Springboro), junior Willy Hanson (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) and freshman Colin Willits (West Chester/Lakota West) added two goals each for ONU.
Senior Cole Zaferakis (Liverpool, N.Y.), the reigning OAC Defensive Player of the Week, got the win in goal, improving to 7-2 on the season after making one save and posting a shutout in the first half.
Sophomore Joe Keeley (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) led ONU with five ground balls.
Tyler Alexander scored Heidelberg's lone goal, and Wilson Runnette had a game-high six ground balls for the Student Princes.
Dempsey and Ferguson each scored twice in the first quarter of Wednesday's game to spark the Polar Bears to a 7-0 lead going into the second period.
Northern added four more goals in the second quarter to lead 11-0 at halftime.
The Polar Bear scoring run continued in the third period, as Hanson made it 15-0 with 7:20 left before Alexander got HU on the scoreboard with 4:04 remaining.
Northern led 16-1 at the end of the third quarter en route to the victory.
Junior Chad Calderwood (West Linn, Ore./Episcopal) was 9-for-14 on faceoffs in the game for ONU, and junior T.J. Smith (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) was 6-for-8.
ONU out-shot Heidelberg 59-13 and finished with a 46-24 edge in ground balls.
The Polar Bears forced 31 Heidelberg turnovers while only committing 16 of their own.
Ohio Northern returns to action on Saturday to host John Carroll at 1 p.m.