Men's Lacrosse Explodes For 23-6 Win Over Houghton

HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The Wells College men's lacrosse team tied its program record for goals scored in one game Friday evening as they defeated Houghton College by a 23-6 margin. With the win, Wells moves to 1-1 overall on the year while Houghton sinks to 1-6 following the non-conference contest.

The Express tied its team record of 23 goals, most recently set against Green Mountain in a 23-1 victory on Mar. 8, 2014. Wells also racked up three man-down goals, setting a program record for shorthanded tallies. 11 different players scored at least one goal for Wells while 12 players registered at least one point of offense, both team records.

Junior Connor Jansen (Horseheads, N.Y.) led all Wells players offensively with eight points, scoring six goals and adding two assist (6-2=8). Freshman Aaron Heisey (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) had a breakout game for the Express, scoring five goals and two assist for seven points (5-2=7) while reeling in five ground balls. Sophomore Alex Milliken (Hilton, N.Y.) contributed a team-best four assists while scoring his second goal of the year.

Freshman Tanner Mingen (Houston, Texas) struck for four points on offense, scoring his first collegiate goal while posting three assists. Sophomore Cody Roberson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) chipped in with his first collegiate hat trick, scoring three times, and freshman Brian Buttner (Highland Mills, N.Y.) scored twice, his first career goals. Freshmen Nicholas Lewis-Antwi (Bronx, N.Y.), Noah Strackbein (Jessup, Pa.) and Scott Boyce (South Colton, N.Y.) each turned in their first collegiate goals in the decisive victory.

Defensively, senior Hayden Shuster (Careywood, Id.) forced a team-leading three turnovers and scooped up five ground balls while Mingen chipped in a pair of caused turnovers. At the "X", Roberson won 12-of-16 face-offs while junior Michael Flaherty (Rochester, N.Y.) collected seven wins and five ground balls. Sophomore Derrick Owens (Utica, N.Y.) rounded out the goal scoring for Wells with one goal while adding five ground balls.

Houghton captured a 2-1 lead before Wells rallied to take a 3-2 lead with Roberson's first goal of the evening. Sean Daigler briefly tied the score in favor of the hosts before three successive strikes by Jansen placed Wells up 6-3. Following Daigler's goal for Houghton, Wells went on to score seven-straight goals to take a commanding 10-3 lead in the opening 15 minutes.

Houghton's Justin Flint would score a man-up goal only 1:32 into the second stanza, but Wells was able to score the game's next 10 goals to capture a 20-4 lead. The Highlanders would score twice within 2:09 in the fourth quarter but three goals from Wells to conclude play established a 17 point margin of victory.

Wells backstop Tyler Bischoff (Allendale, N.J.) picked up his fifth career victory between the pipes, tying current Assistant Coach Kyle Brimm '12 for the most by a goalkeeper in team history. Bischoff turned aside six shots on net in 45 minutes before yielding to sophomore Elijah Tracey (Utica, N.Y.) who made six saves on eight total shots faced.

The goaltending triumvirate of Jordan Warren, Josh Haingray and Zachary Jackson yielded 23 goals while combining to post 14 saves. Warren, who allowed 10 goals in the first 15 minutes of action, was saddled with the loss.

Wells returns to action Sunday, Mar. 29 as they will play the Lions from Bryn Athyn College at 1 p.m. on the campus of Ithaca College in their North Eastern Athletic Conference opener.