Westminster: Men's Lacrosse Season Ends With 9-7 Loss

DENVER, Colo. — After sitting through a three-hour weather delay, the Westminster men’s lacrosse team came up two goals short in a 9-7 loss to St. Thomas (Minn.) in the quarterfinals of the 2011 MCLA National Championships on Wednesday.
Westminster finishes the year at 13-8 overall and advanced past the opening round of the national tournament for the fifth straight year.  St. Thomas will carry an 18-2 record into the semi-final on Friday.
The Griffins held a 4-2 lead at halftime over the two-time defending champions.  Hey would push the lead to 5-2 on a Gian Sexsmith goal with 9:34 remaining in the third quarter.  St. Thomas would then score the next three goals to end the third quarter with the game tied at 5-5.  With the game tied 6-6 in the fourth, St. Thomas tallied back-to-back goals to build an 8-6 lead 7:40 to play.  Andrew Gordon scored for the Griffins with 3:05 to play, but Westminster would not get closer.
“We controlled the two-time national champions for three quarters today,” head coach Mason Goodhand commented.  “We gave an outstanding performance today, but St. Thomas showed their championship will to win the game.”
Dallas McLellan kept the Griffins in the game by making 21 saves in the cage.  Sexsmith finished with two goals with no other player scoring more than one.  Brett Bird added two assists to his one goal for three points.