LATROBE, Pa. — The Wittenberg men's lacrosse team got hat tricks from three different players as it opened its 2024 season Saturday with a 13-8 win at Saint Vincent.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (1-0 overall), Saint Vincent (0-3 overall)
• Venue: UPMC Field - Latrobe, Pa.

Stat Leaders

• Junior Nathan Brown (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) led the Tiger offense with six points on three goals and three assists.
• Sophomore Dillon McKeigue (Olmsted Township, Ohio/St. Edwards) was the Tigers' top goal-scorer, finishing with four to go with one assist for five points.
• Senior Kody Gould (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) was the third Tiger to record a hat trick in the game, finishing with three goals.
• Sophomore Kyle Gould (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) added two goals to go with one from junior Zach Busby (Cedarburg, Wisc./Cedarburg), who also recorded two assists for three total points.
• Sophomore Chase Singleton (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) earned the win in goal, playing all 60 minutes and recording 13 saves.
• Jordan Billet led the Bearcats with four points on two goals and two assists.

The Game

• Wittenberg opened the game with a 4-0 scoring run in the first 11:19.
• McKeigue scored just 2:19 into the game and netted a second goal with 11:22 left in the first quarter. The first goal was assisted by Busby, and the second was assisted by Brown.
• Kody Gould put the Tigers up 3-0 with a goal on an assist from Busby with 8:12 left in the period, and a man-up goal from Brown via an assist from McKeigue made it 4-0 with 3:41 remaining.
• The Bearcats got on the board with a man-up goal with 1:26 left in the opening period, but Busby answered with 28 seconds remaining to send the Tigers into the second quarter with a 5-1 lead.
• Saint Vincent opened the second quarter with three straight goals, cutting the deficit to 5-4 with 6:34 left.
• The Tigers increased their lead to two with a goal from Brown with 4:41 left until halftime, but the Bearcats scored with 1:35 remaining to trim the halftime deficit to 6-5.
• Saint Vincent tied the score at 6-all 5:06 into the third quarter, but the Tigers responded in a big way, capping the period with five straight goals over the final 8:19 to regain control of the game. Kody Gould scored twice in that stretch to go with one goal each from Brown, McKeigue and Kyle Gould to send the Tigers into the fourth quarter with an 11-6 lead.
• McKeigue extended the Tigers' scoring run to 6-0 with a goal with 6:46 left in the game that was assisted by Brown.
• The Bearcats ended their scoring drought with two straight goals, cutting the Wittenberg lead to 12-8 with 2:23 remaining.
• Kyle Gould capped the scoring, netting a goal with 57 seconds left for the 13-8 final score.
• Wittenberg finished with a 33-31 edge in ground balls, while Saint Vicncent finished with a 45-44 advantage in shots.
• The Tigers won 18 of the 25 faceoffs but had 20 turnovers to the Bearcats' 15.

Quote - Head coach Jay Owen

• "It was great to open the game fast, as we have not done that often. Then to handle some adversity and come out with a win was awesome. We haven't started a season with a win in a few years. Chase Singleton and Charlie Frederick had great days in the cage and the faceoff, respectively."

Records & Milestones

• Wittenberg is now 10-5 all-time against Saint Vincent.
• Saturday's win was the Tigers' first season-opening victory since 2020.
• Eleventh-year head coach Jay Owen is now 66-72 all-time at Wittenberg.
• Kody Gould has 72 career points on 56 goals and 16 assists.
• Brown has 55 career points on 30 goals and 25 assists.
• McKeigue has 50 career points on 31 goals and 19 assists.
• Senior Holton Boehmer (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) has 39 career points on 33 goals and six assists.
• Kyle Gould has 36 career points on 32 goals and four assists.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Tuesday at Chatham at 1 p.m.