QUICK HITS
- Cleveland State held off a late Bellarmine rally to claim a 9-8 win
- Danny Tesler won 18 of 19 faceoffs and tallied six ground balls
- Tesler's 94.7% mark on faceoffs is the best ever by a Viking
- Chase Baker had a team-high three points, his most since his freshman year
- Nick Wendel had a pair of goals, his first multi-goal output of the season
- Michael Wilson's assist made him the first Viking to reach 100 career points
- Gareth Haigh made nine saves, including four in the fourth quarter
- Seven different Vikings scored in the win
GAME RECAP
The Cleveland State University lacrosse team returned home for the first time in over a month and got back in the win column as the Vikings held off a late Bellarmine rally to claim a 9-8 victory Friday evening inside Krenzler Dome.
CSU, which led for the entire second half, had a balanced offensive attack that saw seven Vikings find the goal. The Vikings dominated the faceoff and also continually forced failed clears by the Knights.
Senior co-captain Danny Tesler had a game to remember as he won 18 of 19 faceoffs against the Knights. His 18 wins were one off his own school record while his 94.7 winning percentage is a single-game best by a Viking (min. 10 attempts). Tesler, whose only faceoff loss came when the team was man-down, added a team-high six ground balls.
Cleveland State forced Bellarmine into seven failed clears as it held the guests below an 80% mark for the game.
Chase Baker, who entered the game with two points on the season, led the Viking offense by contributing two goals and an assist. His trio of points are his highest-ever figure against a Division I foe.
Senior Nick Wendel joined Baker in tallying a multi-goal effort, which was his first of the season and the 10th of his career.
Junior Derek Radke and sophomore Nick Polydoras each posted a goal and an assist on the game.
The first quarter featured just a single goal by each team. Robert Humphreys scored for the Vikings, courtesy of Michael Wilson, to tie the game just before the midpoint of the quarter.
Cleveland State scored three of the opening four goals of the second quarter to open up a 4-2 lead. Senior Noah Gleeson scored for the Vikings, courtesy of Tristan Hanna, before Baker scored twice in less than a minute, the first of which came when he acrobatically batted in a rebound.
Bellarmine scored in transition in the final 30 seconds of the opening half to pull within 4-3 at the intermission.
Cleveland State scored on three of its opening four possessions of the second half to take a 7-3 lead early in the third quarter. Wendel, Polydoras and freshman Ian McKissick scored in that stretch for the Vikings, with the middle tally being assisted by Baker with the man advantage.
Bellarmine then came right back with three straight goals of its own, with the final one coming when it was man-up, to again cut its deficit to one.
Radke scored in the final 20 seconds of the quarter to give CSU a two-goal lead heading into the final frame. He then set up the game's next goal when he fed Wendel just over five minutes into the fourth.
A Bellarmine goal near the midway point of the fourth quarter put the score at 9-7 in favor of the hosts. The Knights would then strike with 2:30 left to play to set up a frantic finish.
CSU won the ensuing faceoff but was unable to find an insurance strike. Sophomore Gareth Haigh then came up huge for the Vikings by making a save in the final minute to preserve the Cleveland State lead. His save allowed the hosts to clear the ball and run out most of the remaining time on the clock.
Cleveland State had clear advantages in shots (48-33), ground balls (38-28) and clearing percentage (.882 - .781).
Wilson's helper pushed his career point total to 100 as he extended his point streak to 11 games. Hanna's assist extended his point streak to a career-long 10 games.
Haigh made nine saves in the cage, including four in the final quarter. It marked the second straight game in which he saved more than half the shots on goal.
McKissick scored for the second straight game as he made his first career start Friday. Humphreys' opening strike for CSU was the second of his career.
Tesler surpassed 250 career ground balls with his effort as he extended his own CSU career record in that category.
Radke tallied his second straight multi-point game as he extended his point streak to four games. Gleeson added five ground balls on the day.
Cleveland State will return to action shortly as the Vikings will take on Mercer in a neutral-site matchup on the outskirts of Baltimore.
