MORGANTOWN — When a lacrosse team suffers from a chronic case of the dreaded slow starts, as the Morgantown boys have for much of this season, the cure is usually a three-pronged approach: Stay calm, stay strong in goal and wait until somebody gets the offense kick-started.
On Tuesday night at Pony Lewis Field against Wheeling Park, the Mohigans followed the script, then followed the prescription, as they fell behind early, found their game in the second quarter and cruised to a 17-10 win.
Both teams started extra sloppy, with numerous unforced errors and errant passes stunting the offenses. When shots finally got through, Patriots goalie Max Wiley and MHS keeper Jay Anderson came up with several big saves to keep the game scoreless for the first eight minutes. Wheeling Park (5-6) broke the tie with three quick goals late in the first quarter, the first two by Isaac Wiley.
Up by three with a minute left, the Patriots nearly added to their lead, but an apparent goal was waived off for a crease violation, and MHS quickly took advantage. Weston White snapped in a shot off a pretty feed from Preston Harman with 45 seconds left to get the Mohigans (8-3) on the board.
In the second quarter, Park scored again at the 9:04 mark to take a 4-1 lead, but that’s when MHS started to dial in on offense. Face-off specialist Michael Brown (who finished a stellar 23-6 on draws) and Jaxson Fielding connected for two nearly identical goals within 20 seconds. Brown won the face off, scooped it, sprinted straight at the net, then fed Fielding in front. After dominating possession for the next six minutes, the Mohigans exploded for three more goals in the last three minutes of the half from White (off a fine feed from Daniel Arthurs), Tyler Colebank and Harman to take a 6-4 lead at the break.
The offensive burst continued for the home team, as Harman popped in a goal in the first minute and White completed his hat trick with a pair of goals (both from Arthurs helpers) 40 seconds apart. Park finally broke the string of eight unanswered goals in the middle of the quarter to make it 9-5. The two teams traded goals at the end of the third and the beginning of the final quarter until a Park score at 7:41 whittled the MHS lead down to 11-8.
But Arthurs and Harman simply put the game away down the stretch with a series of power shots from 10 yards out, Harman snagging his 4th and 5th goals and Arthurs dominant with four goals, as the Mohigans won it going away.
For Anderson, who finished with 13 key saves, it’s not about how many saves he makes as much as when he makes them.
“It usually takes the first goal to get us going, and Weston got it,” said Anderson. “I just try to stop every ball I can, and not think about any shots that get by me. It’s a tough position, and it’s tough to make saves, so anytime I make one can help us. And if I can control it, it can lead to transition opportunities. And once we get going, we’re hard to slow down”
After the game, MHS Jeremy Bennett smiled and shook his head when asked about his team’s early struggles.
“We stayed the course, and stuck to the plan,” he explained. “Jay really kept us in it early in the first quarter. He made some really huge stops, kept everyone calm, and allowed us to settle in and get to our game. Mike Brown kept winning possession on face-offs, we picked up our game, and I was especially happy to see Arthurs set people up early. He’s had a little drought scoring lately, and he gets it, knows that if he gets his passing game going, his scoring will follow. And that’s what happened tonight.
“As long as we continue to stay relaxed, play hard, and play smart, we’ll give ourselves the best chance to be successful. That’s the plan.”
The Mohigans travel across town to face rival University at 8 p.m. Friday.
