By: Athletic Communications Student Intern Joe Huff '21 

BEREA, Ohio – The No. 1 seeded Baldwin Wallace University men's lacrosse team held off the No. 4 seeded Ohio Northern University in the Ohio Athletic Conference semifinal by a final score of 16-12 at the Roehm Athletic Complex on the Lou Groza Field.

Freshman attacker Jake Nanosky (Medina) led BW (13-1) tallying four goals and two assists for six points. Sophomore attacker/midfielder Kyler Byerly (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) scored three goals. Senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC midfielder Nick Nanosky (Medina), senior midfielder Ethan Miller (Delaware/Hayes), and freshman attacker Zakary Kroeger (Cincinnati/Archbishop Moeller) added two goals each. Kroeger also dished out two assists. 

Senior All-Academic OAC attacker Joe O'Connell led Ohio Northern (8-6) with six goals. Six other Polar Bears scored a goal each. 

The Yellow Jackets attack came out firing on all cylinders. Kroeger got the scoring started 50 seconds into the game. BW proceeded to go on a 4-0 run that ended with a goal coming from Jake Nanosky. Ohio Northern was able to end the run with a goal by senior midfielder Mason Schmeling with 5:58 remaining. The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 5-1 when Miller rifled one past the keeper. The Polar Bears ended the first quarter scoring with a goal coming by the way of O'Connell to trim the BW lead to 5-2.

The Yellow Jackets got the scoring started after the break. Sophomore defender Neil Randall (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Palos Verdes) rifled one past the keeper with 12:04 remaining. The BW defense was stifling allowing only one goal from O'Connell with 8:59 remaining. The Yellow Jackets went on a 4-0 run the rest of the quarter with Jake Nanosky scoring the last two goals to give BW a 10-3 halftime lead.

Ohio Northern got the second half started with O'Connell getting the hat trick to cut the Yellow Jackets led to 10-4. BW responded with a 2-0 run that saw Jake Nanosky and Nick Nanosky each put one past the keeper. The Polar Bears ended the quarter on a 3-0 run that was capped off by senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC attacker Cameron Marous to trim the Yellow Jackets lead to 12-7. 

BW was able to regain an eight-goal lead as they opened the quarter on a 3-0 run of their own. The run was led by Byerly who netted two goals. Ohio Northern ended the run with a goal coming from senior attacker/midfielder Pat Berthelsen-Leon with 6:36 remaining. The Yellow Jackets managed to get one more goal from Kroeger to put them up 16-8. The Polar Bears turned the intensity up when they ended on a 4-0 run that was capped off by senior All-Academic OAC attacker Josh Foster. The run wasn't enough as BW walked away with a 16-12 victory. 

In the cage, sophomore goalkeeper Joe Storner (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) recorded 19 saves on the 31 shots he faced.

The Yellow Jackets return to action on Saturday, May 8 when they host crosstown rivals John Carroll University in the OAC Championship game at the Roehm Athletic Complex on Lou Groza Field.