Pride drop season opener to Cornell 11-8

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Rescheduling their originally planned season opener from last weekend's cold and snowy weather to a more pleasant atmosphere on Friday evening, the Clarke University men's lacrosse were able to pull out a win in an 11-8 defeat to Cornell College.

It was a strong start to their first game of the year for the Pride as they battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to score four-straight goals to finish the first quarter up 4-2 behind Tyler Fleming's first CU goal, a pair of unassisted tallies from Xavier Howard, and a Jackson Michaels goal, assisted by Howard sandwiched in the middle of Howard's two.

Clarke got the next two goals to double their lead as Tank Payton also notched his first goal in navy and gold before Fleming added his second on a man advantage, making the score 6-2 before the Rams ended the first half getting one back on their own man advantage to make it 6-3 at the halftime break.

CU's offense was slowed up a bit in the second half as they were only able to muster a singlular goal in each of the third and fourth quarters with CC able to mount a full comeback with three of their own in the third to get to within a goal heading into the fourth before outscoring Clarke 5-1 in the final frame to steal a win on the road despite Fleming getting his third goal of the game in the third quarter and Ashani Harvey joining the group of first time Clarke goal scorers in their debuts in the fourth.

Howard finished the game with those two first quarter goals and three assists for a five-point night while Fleming and Michaels were the only other members of the Pride to find the scoresheet twice in the game, Fleming earning his hat trick and Michaels recording a goal and an assist early on.

In net for Clarke, junior Kiereek Mcleod and senior Jack Fritz had planned to split time at goalie as both were dealing with their own physical ailments heading into the game with Mcleod playing in the first half and Fritz taking the second half, but a third quarter penalty assessed to Fritz forced him to sit for a majority of that third quarter. Mcleod allowed fewer goals but also faced fewer shots in his near 33 minutes in the crease, allowing three goals and making four saves while Fritz saw much more action in just about 18:25 while making eight saves, but also allowing eight goals on the 16 shots.

A major factor in the fourth quarter advantage for Cornell included the Rams winning five of the seven faceoffs in the period, controlling possession to outshoot CU 14-5 over the 15 minutes after outshooting the home team 10-5 in the third to finish the second half with a 14-shot difference.

Pride men's lacrosse will remain at home over their next three games, starting with their first game in the Heart of America Athletic Conference on Saturday, Mar. 7 when they welcome Benedictine College to Burrows Field for a 1:00 p.m. CT scheduled opening faceoff.