It may have been April Fool’s day, but the play of the Mesa State men’s lacrosse team was no joke.
The Mavs defeated the Dominican University Penguins in a close contest 6-5 Friday night at Walker Field. The win gave the fledgling lacrosse program its second win this season.
The first two minutes were dominated by Mesa State’s Trace Wollner as he nabbed a quick pass from Michael Giffen and scored with a low shot in one fluid motion. Chances would come few and far between for the next 10 minutes.
With three minutes to go in the quarter Mesa State’s Nick Cosgrove scored a goal off of a blocked shot. The Penguin goalkeeper blocked a shot and went to retrieve the ball, but Cosgrove grabbed the ball and shot past the out-of-position goalie. Dillon Bernad scored a goal with 23 seconds left in the quarter after running around the goal and firing it past the keeper.
The second quarter was a dull affair. Both teams had few chances. Dominican scored two unanswered goals within two minutes. It was solid passing and fluid movement on the field that helped the Penguins score the only goals of the quarter. The home team looked as if they were sitting back defensively towards the end of the half.
“We were trying to play as conservatively as possible,” coach AJ Stevens said.
The Mavs came out with more offense in the third quarter, scoring two goals thanks to a shot six minutes into the second half from Andrew Kurth. Bernad scored with two and a half minutes left in the quarter. Dominican scored half a minute later to bring the Mavs within two of the Penguins.
The fourth quarter started out well for the Mavs. Trevor Ecton intercepted a pass from the Dominican goalkeeper and juked passed the keeper and shot into an open net 22 seconds into the final quarter. It looked like smooth sailing from there, but the Penguins made the game more interesting. They scored two unanswered goals, the last with one second to go.
“We knew that would happen, we made a choice to slow it down and kill the clock,” coach Stevens said.
The men’s team will play Grand Canyon University on Friday 7 p.m. at Walker Field.

jdthomas@mesastate.edu