The University of Mary Washington men's lacrosse team jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and never looked back in a 14-5 victory over Whittier College on Saturday night in Fredericksburg. The Eagles improve to 5-1 on the season.
Senior midfielder Sean Dacey opened the scoring for the Eagles less than a minute into play, and Griffin Burke upped the lead to 2-0 with 10:28 remaining. Junior Billy Kelly scored two minutes later, and John Bohlinger added a man-up score with 6:59 left in the first quarter. After a Whittier score, Joey Marson found the nets just 12 seconds later, and Bohlinger scored for the second time on a Paul Tunick assist to cap the first quarter scoring with UMW holding a 6-1 advantage.
The Eagles added to their advantage by outscoring the Poets, 3-0, in the second quarter. Billy Kelly scored on a Luke Dick assist with 10:11 remaining, and Dick then scored unassisted with 4:07 left. Burke upped the lead to 9-1 with 1:58 left before halftime.
UMW started strong in the third quarter, as Dick scored on a Chip Pittard assist with 11:29 to play, and Pittard followed on a Billy Kelly assist just 15 seconds later. The lead grew to 12-1 as Tunick scored a man-up goal with 8:52 left in the third. Whittier closed the quarter with a pair of goals to cut the deficit to 12-3.
The teams traded goals in the fourth, as John Bohlinger scored on a Dick assist with 11:15 remaining, and Dick scored on a Bohlinger pass with 5:10 to play.
Dick had three goals and two assists to pace the Eagle offense, while Bohlinger added three goals and one assist. Kelly had two goals and an assist, and Burke scored twice for UMW.
The Eagles led in shots, 41-32, and in ground balls, 28-25. Sophomore Zack Del Grosso had eight saves and Kyle Davitt added one in goal for Mary Washington. Dick and Forrest Fisher each had four ground balls for the Eagles.
The Eagles will return to action on Wednesday night when they visit ninth-ranked Washington & Lee University at 7:00 p.m.