Men's Lacrosse completes perfect Spring Break trip with 15-8 victory over Brevard (N.C.)

By Blake Moore

BREVARD, N.C. — The Ohio Northern men's lacrosse program toppled NCAA Division III foe Brevard (N.C.) 15-8 at Ives-Lemel Field Saturday, concluding an undefeated Spring Break road trip to North Carolina.

With the victory, the Polar Bears improve to 4-1 overall this season. In addition, they conclude their annual Spring Break trip with a 3-0 record after defeating Guilford (N.C.) 6-4 and Pfeiffer (N.C.) 22-8 earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the Tornados move to 2-4 in 2019 after dropping their past three contests.

Senior midfield/attack Anthony Pavone (Bainbridge/Kenston) led the Polar Bear offense with a team-high three goals and four points. He also recorded seven shots, two ground balls, and an assist in Saturday's nonconference affair.

In addition, senior Max Weese (Hilliard/Hilliard Darby) and juniors Pat Berthelsen-Leon (Bethpage, N.Y.) and Kevin Giles (Williamsburg, Va./Warhill) each tallied two goals.

Weese now owns a program-best 98 career goals and sits just two scores away from becoming the first player in school history to reach 100 goals.

Defensively, senior defender Drew Fox (Solon) and senior long-stick middie Matt Sheftall (Austin, Tex./Bowie) paced the team with two caused turnovers.

Sophomore Preston Victory (Brentwood, Tenn.) topped ONU with a career-high seven ground balls, giving him a team-best 21 ground balls this season. He also guided the Polar Bears in the faceoff circle, posting a 12-for-15 performance on Saturday.

Pavone gave Ohio Northern an early 1-0 lead after finding the net in the third minute. The Tornados answered back with two consecutive goals and kept the Orange and Black scoreless until six seconds remained in the stanza when Weese scored his first goal to even the game at 2-2.

From there, Ohio Northern went on a 9-0 scoring run that spanned the second and third frames. Freshman Christopher Cranston (Fairfax Station, Va./Lake Braddock) started the run with a goal at the 14:24 mark in the second period, and Pavone capped the spurt with his final goal at the 3:18 mark in the third.

BC attempted one final comeback effort, stringing together three successive goals to make the deficit 11-5, but Ohio Northern managed to keep its distance with four additional goals in the final period.

Ohio Northern out-shot Brevard 68-25 overall, which included a 37-17 edge in shots on goal. The Polar Bears also caused 11 turnovers, picked up 55 ground balls, and ended 17-for-18 on clear attempts in the weekend contest.

ONU will return to action next Saturday, March 16 with a road contest at Alfred (N.Y.). Game time is set for 1 p.m.