Franciscan 25, Thiel 10
Franciscan Starters
Nathaiel Carter, Joseph James, Jeofre Strandhagen, Sam Smith, Gavin Cook, Dominic Miraglia, Samuel Marshall, James Masso, Joseph Redmond & Goalkeeper- Richard Vale II
How It Happened
Franciscan would take on Thiel on Wednesday evening in a pivotal PAC matchup. The Barons would pickup their first win all-time against the Tomcats behind a 12 point performance from Joseph James and 10 points from Gavin Cook.
Gavin Cook opened up the scoring less than two minutes in on an assist from Joseph James. Alex Ahmann would score a few minutes later to give the Barons a multiple goal lead. The Tomcats would answer with their first of the night before James would net his first and restore the two goal lead. A couple of Franciscan penalties would give Thiel some good opportunities, and they would capitalize with a pair of goals to tie it up at 3-3. Nathaniel Carter would score his first of the night late in the first quarter to give the Barons a slim lead heading into the second quarter.
The Barons offense would explode with six straight goals to start the second quarter and take all the momentum in front of a strong home crowd on the rainy evening. Thiel would finally respond with their first goal of the quarter, but the Barons answered with a goal from Samuel Marshall in the final seconds to take an 11-4 lead into the half.
It would be a massive third quarter for the Barons. Gavin Cook scored three in a row in the opening minutes with a pair coming on the same extra-man opportunity. He would score four of team-high eight goals in this quarter, as the Barons would score nine to take a 20-8 lead into the fourth quarter. The Barons would add five more goals in the fourth, including Jack Nelson's first of the game. The Barons would score 20+ goals for the fifth time all year, as they picked up their eighth win of the season. This is the first time in program history that the Barons have won eight games in a season, and they still have four regular season games scheduled to add on some more wins.
Inside the Numbers
- James scored five goals to improve his NCAA Division III leading goals per game average to 4.92.
- James surpassed 100 points, as he has 102 now thus far in his freshman season.
- Gavin Cook scored eight goals, his most in a game this season.
- Strandhagen went 21-37 on faceoffs, as he broke the program record for most faceoff wins in a season.
- Miraglia caused three turnovers.
Up Next
Franciscan will return to action on Saturday for Senior Day at Trinity Health System Field in Steubenville. The Barons will take on the Presidents of Washington & Jefferson at 4:00 p.m. with eight seniors honored before the game. The Barons are 0-5 all-time against the Presidents, but did not play them last year, as they canceled their season halfway through after not having enough healthy players. They have already picked up a pair of PAC wins thus far in 2024.
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