WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.- The Juniata men's lacrosse team hung close through the first two and a half quarters of their first-ever game, but Penn College ultimately managed to pull away as JC fell 15-5 in their program opener Sunday afternoon at UPMC Field.
The Wildcats struck first inside the first minute of action. Nearly two minutes later, Kolton Black (Mount Airy, Md. / South Carroll) equalized for Juniata as he etched his name into the record books with the first goal in program history.
Penn College struck again 30 seconds later, but the Eagles found another goal while a man up as Jacob Wallman (Arbutus, Md. / Western Tech) assisted Aiden Duran's (Walden, N.Y. / Valley Central) goal to bring the game back level at two. The Wildcats added one more goal as JC trailed 3-2 after one.
The Wildcats scored the next two goals of the game over the first 10 minutes of the second quarter, but Juniata was not deterred as Wallman got himself on the score sheet and Reuben Stoll (Bethesda, Maryland / Walt Whitman) tacked on a goal of his own to make it 5-4. The host's doubled their lead heading into halftime as Juniata trailed 6-4.
Penn College kicked off the second half with a goal inside the first minutes. Wallman found his second goal of the day with eight minutes to go in the third with the score at 7-5, but that marked the final goal of the day for the Eagles.
The Wildcats tallied four goals in the final four minutes and 18 seconds of the third including two in the final 30 seconds as they led by six. A 4-0 goal advantage to Penn College ended the game.
Justin Toney (Westminster, Md. / Winters Mill) made 12 saves in goal for the Eagles, while Black led the team in groundballs with six and in caused turnovers with five. Vincent Bechler (East Brunswick, NJ / East Brunswick) tacked on five ground balls and a caused turnover for JC.
The Eagles will host Marymount in their first game at home, next Saturday at 1:00.
