Willits' hat trick leads Men's Lacrosse to an 11-3 victory over Marietta

ADA — Junior Colin Willits (West Chester/Lakota West) had a hat trick to lead the Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team to an 11-3 Ohio Athletic Conference victory over Marietta on a warm and windy Saturday afternoon. 

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (7-4 Overall, 2-1 OAC), Marietta (5-5 Overall, 0-3 OAC).
• Venue: Dial-Roberson - Ada, Ohio. 

The Game

• Willits scored three goals and had one assist to lead the Polar Bears.
• Junior Mark Mintzlaff (St. Louis, Mo./Country Day) would finish the game with two goals. 
• Senior Caleb Bennett (Stokesdale, N.C./Linganore) finished the game with one goal and two assists.
• The Orange and Black went on a 3-1 run in the first period with three different Polar Bears scoring goals. 
• Mintzlaff scored at 9:34 in the second period to extend the lead to 4-1.
• Northern would lead 6-2 at halftime. 
• Willits opened the second half with a goal at 8:10 that extended the lead to 7-2.
• ONU held Marietta scoreless in the third period and led 10-2 going into the fourth.
• The Pioneers were led by Sam Leininger, who had a goal and an assist. 
• Fresham Griffin Bartos (Pittsburgh, Pa./Norwin) scored with 6:57 left in the fourth period to extend the lead to 11-3.
• Freshman Peyton Lich (Palmyra, N.Y./Macedon) led the team in saves with six to lead the Polar Bears to a win.
• ONU out-shot MU 60-21 and had the ground ball advantage 32-18.

Notables

• Willits leads the team in goals this season with 25 and in points with 31.
• Bennett leads the team in assists this season with 12
• Sophomore Ryan Frech (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) leads the team in caused turnovers this season with 19 and in ground balls with 35.
• Senior Chad Calderwood (Portland, Ore./Episcopal) won 7 of 10 in faceoffs on the day, extending his school record to 498 for his career.
• He also has the career ground balls record with 230.
• Willits is sixth all-time in ONU history with 67 career goals.
• Northern leads the all-time series with a 5-0 record.
• Bennett ranks eighth all-time in ONU history with 34 career assists.
• Head coach Nat St.Laurent is in his tenth season at Ohio Northern with a 99-52 record, a winning percentage of .655.
• The men's program is one win away from 100 wins in ten seasons. 

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will return to action on the road at Heidelberg on Wednesday at 7 pm.