The Taylor men’s Lacrosse team found a way to win away from home, beating Michigan-Dearborn University 11-5. Junior Caleb Williams headlined an amazing performance, putting in four goals, followed by senior Alex Blum with three.
Before leaving, the team took to their home field April 15, and added a third win to their overall record — beating conference opponent Lourdes University, by a score of 12-7.
Three players had a hattrick and three players tallied assists. The Trojans were only down in the first quarter, but maintained a quick scoring offense by the trio of junior Wyatt Marshall, junior Caleb Williams and senior Alex Blum.
“One of the biggest things that we did (in the game) was play together as a team,” Marshall said. “The offense was moving the ball; the defense was communicating and being very vocal.”
For the defense, sophomore goalie Trace Muylle picked up 12 saves in the contest. In the 11 games played, he has only dropped under ten saves twice in the season. For the offense, Marshall is having his best year, with career highs in goals (19), points (21) and shot percentage (19.5).
Junior Aidan Craig led all Trojans with four assists. Three went to Williams, with one going to Blum. Craig is experiencing a bounce-back season, playing and starting in all 11 games thus far. His increased production in goals, assists, points and shots have helped the Trojans as they go into their final games of the season.
“The team has always had my back,” Craig said. “They just ride through the adversity, through the ups and the downs and take care of business.”
Craig only played nine games last season, battling sickness and Injuries. This year, the whole team was also hit with the sudden death of freshman Connor Phillips. Through thick and thin, Craig and Marshall have seen this team grow — even through the hardest of times.
Backing the Trojans lacrosse team is head coach Chad Newhard. In his fourth season, he has led the team to yet another hard-fought season. The team has played eight of their 11 games against top 10 teams.
“It was a pretty dominant performance for us,” he said, regarding the Lourdes win. “It was the best we’ve played overall. We played great offensively.”
Newhard gave high praise to player development, stating that guys have been contributing all across the stat sheet. With the death of Phillips, Newhard has seen how much the guys are involved in each other's lives. He describes this season as a satisfying year, knowing what happened to before and what has come out of it.
In terms of the future goals, Newhard took to the offensive side of the game. He noted that many of the players from this year will return to play again, shouting out players such as sophomore Reid Gerig and junior Carter Prieditis. He also looks forward to adding the sophomore trio of Holt Taylor, Ethans Johns and James Proodian back to the rotation for some much-needed offensive power for the team.
The Trojans’ Lacrosse team look towards their offensive production, which can hopefully lead to a possible tournament run.
