The No. 11 Westminster men’s lacrosse team raced to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter before surviving a late rally from Boise State to claim a 13-10 win on Sunday afternoon.
Westminster (2-0) used two goals from Kyle Postler and one each for Jake Berard and Josh Holland to hold that first quarter advantage. Erik Gronseth made five saves in the quarter for the Griffins. Boise State (3-2) opened the second quarter scoring, only to see Westminster strike back with three-straight goals from Holland, Eric Crosby and Thomas Sarjeant to lead 7-1.
“We played some pretty solid defense early in the game,” Westminster head coach Mason Goodhand said of his team’s fast start. “Overall it was a good performance and we are excited about the 2-0 start.”
Boise State scored the final two goals of the first half to send the game to intermission with Westminster leading, 8-3. Sarjeant quickly made it 9-3 early in the third quarter before the Broncos started to rally. The home squad closed to 9-6 when Crosby scored his second of game for the Griffins. Sarjeant stopped a two-goal burst from BSU to send the game to the final period with the Griffins holding an 11-8 lead.
It was BSU that opened the fourth quarter scoring before Troy Vance answered for the Griffins. Holland then notched his third of the game to push the Griffin lead back to four with less than eight minutes to play. The Broncos added a goal with 1:10 on the clock, but that would be the end of the game’s scoring.
“We knew they (Boise State) were a solid group that wasn’t going to quit and they proved that today,” Goodhand said about the opponent.
Sarjeant finished the game with five points to lead the Griffins in scoring for the second-straight day. His three assists on the day also led the team. Postler and Holland finished with three goals apiece.
Westminster struggled in the faceoff battle all afternoon, winning just 6-of-26. Ryan Coffelt won four of those on 14 chances while Berard went 2-of-11. Coffelt led the team with four ground balls. Gronseth earned the win in cage by making 17 saves.
The Griffins return to action Saturday in San Rafael, California, when they open a three-game road swing at Dominican at 4 p.m. MT.