Balanced effort carries Virginia Wesleyan

Marlins build first-half lead en route to 12-7 win over McDaniel

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Adam Nycz recorded two goals and an assist to lead Virginia Wesleyan to a 12-7 victory over McDaniel in non-conference men's lacrosse action on Saturday.

Damian Becker and Curran Lee added two goals apiece for the Marlins (3-2), who built an 8-4 lead at intermission en route to the five-goal win.

TJ Willoughby (Sykesville, Md./Century) led the Green Terror (1-2) with three goals while DJ Rickels (Forest Hill, Md./Boys Latin School of Maryland) added a goal and two assists.

Rickels staked McDaniel to a 1-0 lead just 1:53 into the game before Virginia Wesleyan reeled off three straight.

Lee evened the game with 3:34 to play in the opening period before Nycz and Eric Anderson scored 14 seconds apart to stretch the lead to 3-1.

Willoughby made it a 3-2 game at the end of the first before scoring 1:51 into the second to even the game at 3-all.

Waddell finished a Nycz feed 1:45 later to spark another three-goal rally to stretch the lead to 6-3 with 6:47 remaining in the period.

Willoughby broke up the stretch before Nycz and Damian Becker went back-to-back in the final 2:46 of the first half to stretch the lead to four at the break.

William Clary (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) tallied 1 minute, 4 seconds into the second half but Lee re-established the four-goal edge with 18 seconds to play in the third quarter before the Marlins tacked on three more to open the fourth.

A pair of JS Duke (Fort Washington, Md./Upper Dublin) goals in the final 2:55 set the final margin.

McDaniel returns to action at home against Mary Washington on Wednesday. Game time is 3:30 p.m.

Score by Period                        1            2            3            4            -            F
McDaniel (1-2)                                    2            2            1            2            -            7
Virginia Wesleyan (3-2)                        3            5            1            3            -            12

Goals
McDaniel: TJ Willoughby 3, JS Duke 2, DJ Rickels 1, William Clary.
Virginia Wesleyan: Adam Nycz 2, Damian Becker 2, Curran Lee 2, Travia Puls, Tim Homa, Russ Kok, Brock Waddell, Eric Anderson, Brian Dressler.

Assists
McDaniel: Rickels 2, Gibbs Preston 2, Willoughby, Matt Mummert.
Virginia Wesleyan: Kyle Wright, Kok, Kycz, Puls, Homa, Mikey Connors, Ethan Wright.

Shots: M 34, V 43. Ground Balls: M 34, V 47. Goalies: M (Brad Motley - 11 saves, 12 GA), V (Tyler Keech - 17 saves, 7 GA). Extra-Man: M 3 of 5, V 1 of 5. Face-Offs: M 8, V 14. Clearing: M 0 of 0, V 18 of 22. Penalties: M 0 for 0:00, V 0 for 0:00.

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