FREMONT, Neb. — Midland University took the field one final time on Tuesday night for their men’s lacrosse finale for the 2021 season and they did not disappoint. Facing the Mustangs of Morningside College, the Warriors thoroughly outplayed the competition from start to finish, winning 18-4.
Midland came into the game looking to blow off some steam after a heartbreaking, fourth-quarter loss to Missouri Baptist the day before. Their vengefulness showed in their play as they netted two goals in less than five minutes into the start of the game.
Savion Johnson netted the first goal and then within a minute of the Warriors’ second goal by Joshua Pereira, Johnson scored again recording back-to-back games of multi-goal opening periods.
Cody Thompson scored his first collegiate goal at the 8:28 mark of the first period, bringing the Warriors’ lead to 4-0. The offensive explosion continued with a goal by Ian Bolack and then Pereira scored his second goal as Midland held a 6-0 lead after one quarter.
To start the second, Nick Crociata got in on the scoring action with his team-high 15th goal of the season. The Mustangs responded with their first goal of the game 40 seconds later, putting a goal in during a power-play opportunity.
The Morningside momentum did not last long as Bolack scored his second goal of the game with two minutes remaining in the half and gave Midland an 8-1 advantage at the intermission.
Entering the second half, the Warriors left no hopes for a comeback as they went on a four-goal stretch to blow open the game, 12-1.
The fourth goal of the third quarter was a unique one as it was scored by Jamison Evers who started the game in goal before being relieved by junior Marty Gospodarski at halftime. The goal was also the first one of Evers’ collegiate career.
After a second Morningside goal, Mitchell Marinaro put a goal in with just a little more than a minute left to play in the period bringing the score to 13-2.
Even though Midland was in cruise control during the fourth period on the way to a lopsided win, they scored five more goals while letting in just two. After Bolack scored his fourth goal of the contest, Pereira recorded his team-high seventh assist when his pass set up Marinaro for his second goal.
Adding to his two goals and three assists, Savion Johnson earned a fourth-period hat-trick and scored the final goal of the Warriors’ season with 1:57 remaining in the game.
After the global pandemic limited the team to just one game in their inaugural season, it was a great feeling for the Warriors to complete a full season. Winning their final game was a great finish to a season that was full of change and adversity.
First-year head coach Billy Dineen had this to say about the win and the season as a whole, “I’m very proud of how the team fought all season with limited numbers and how they closed out the season with a hard-fought win against Morningside. This team is special, all the pieces are in place to set us up for success moving forward. That being said, this group battled through more adversity than any other team in the country and was always positive and trusting the process to get to where we need to be. I love coaching every single one of these players as they have brought back my love for the game of lacrosse and I am very fortunate to get to know them personally and see them develop into terrific student-athletes! GO WARRIORS!”
The Warriors will look to carry over this late-season momentum into their offseason program and next year.
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