Men's Lacrosse wins its second straight OAC Tournament championship with a 15-7 victory at Baldwin Wallace

BEREA — The Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team won its second Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship in program history, led by a second half surge to earn a 15-7 victory at Baldwin Wallace on a cold Saturday afternoon. 

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (13-6 Overall, 7-1 OAC), Baldwin Wallace (14-5 Overall, 8-0 OAC).
• Venue: George Finnie Stadium - Berea, Ohio. 

The Game  

• Junior Jack Chaney (Westerville/South) led the way for ONU with three goals and three assists.
• Sophomore Cooper Mulligan (Middletown/Bishop Fenwick) had three goals and one assists for Ohio Northern.
• Sophomore Davis Rice (Vashon, Wash.) added two goals and one assist in the contest.
• Chaney began the game with a goal with 12:47 left to take an early lead in the first period.
• Baldwin Wallace found the net twice before, sophomore Eli Ferguson (Springboro) scored a goal to tie it at 2-2 with 4:44 left in the first period.
• BW held a 4-2 lead at the end of the first period.
• ONU opened the second period with a 4-0 run to take a 6-4 lead.
• Northern held a close 6-5 advantage at halftime.
• The Orange and Black offense began the third period with four unanswered goals, taking a 10-5 lead. 
• After a Yellow Jackets goal, freshman Jack Switter (Deerfield Beach, Fla./American Heritage Plantation) found the net to extend the lead to 11-6.
• The Polar Bear defense held the Yellow Jackets to only two goals in the second half. 
• Sophomore Peyton Lich (Palmyra, N.Y./Palmyra-Macedon) had 10 saves in goal and earned the win in goal for Northern. 
• The Polar Bears out-shot the Yellow Jackets 42-40 and had the ground ball advantage 31-29. 

Notables

• Ohio Northern was the No. 2 seed, while Baldwin Wallace was the No. 1 seed.
• This is ONU's second OAC Tournament championship win in program history. 
• The Polar Bears now advance to the NCAA Division III Championships for the second time in program history.
• The 2026 NCAA Division III selection show will be on Sunday at 9 pm to find out Northern's seed for the tournament.
• Chaney leads the Polar Bears in points this season with 54 on 26 goals and a team-best 28 assists.
• Senior J.D. Hale (West Chester/Lakota West) leads the team in goals this season with 26.
• Junior Ryan Frech (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) has a team-high 21 caused turnovers this season. 
• Junior Devin Halliday (Delaware/Hayes) has a team-high 159 face-off wins.
• He is also 4th all-time in face-off wins with 280.
• He also leads the team in ground balls this season with 61.
• Lich ranks third all-time in ONU history with 314 saves, 24 wins, and 1824 minutes played in goal.
• Head coach Nat St.Laurent is in his 11th season at Ohio Northern with a 121-59 record, a winning percentage of .672.

Up Next

• The Orange and Black will find their NCAA opponent and site on Sunday at 9 pm with the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse selection show on NCAA.com.