HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata men's lacrosse team battled the Wildcats of Penn College but lost 11-4 under the lights at Gibbel Stadium Wednesday night.
Charlie Newman scored twice as Aiden Duran and Brandon Simonini each added one goal for the Eagles. Beaux Wojciechowski tallied three assists on the night, and Justin Toney totaled 17 saves in goal.
Penn College came out strong in the first quarter scoring the first three goals of the game. Simonini got the Eagles on the board in the 11th minute of the game, ripping a shot past his defender around 30 yards out. The Wildcats added their fourth goal before the first period ended, making the score 4-1.
The Eagles held Penn College to only two goals in both the second and third quarters heading into the fourth down 6-1.
Juniata turned up the heat as Wojciechowski found Newman in front of the net, who turned and fired the ball passed the Wildcat goalie to get the Eagles their second goal in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Newman took this momentum and tallied his second goal from a Wojciechowski pass from behind the goal. This made it 8-3 with just over nine minutes to go in the game. Penn College added a goal before Wojciechowski earned his third assist. Wojciechowski worked around the crease and passed a defender to find Duran, who was able to fire off a goal. Penn College scored two more times in the fourth, ending the score line at 11-4 in their favor.
Reuben Stoll added three caused turnovers and two groundballs, while Matt McCleary and A. John DeFruscio added two caused turnovers. McCleary added four groundballs, and Wojciechowski, DeFrusio, Bechler, and Heath Gamarel added three. Gamarel was 6-15 in faceoffs.
The men's lacrosse team travels to Frederick, Maryland, to face Hood on Saturday at 1:00 pm. The Blazers grabbed an 18-8 victory in the first meeting in 2022. Duran scored four goals, and Jacob Wallman scored twice.
