Ottawa, KS – The third-ranked UC men's lacrosse team outscored the Braves 6-2 in the second half to overcome a three-goal deficit and defeat (RV) Ottawa 13-11 Saturday afternoon.  The Patriots improve to 9-3 on the season and earned their fifth wins against teams that are ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top-10 Poll.

Dylan Crouch paced the way for UC tying his season-high with five goals and seven points, including thre in the third quarter as the Patriots evened the score. Christian Vanover added a pair of goals, an assists, and scooped four ground balls, while Tanner Popovich recorded his second multigoal game of the season.

Nik Kubik went 12-25 on faceoffs with four ground balls and a goal in the game.  Jake Morgan led the defense with five caused turnovers and five ground balls, while Chrystian Coleman added a pair of caused turnovers and six ground balls.  Thomas Fogarty scooped a career-high eight ground balls as Will Settle made five saves in the win.

Ottawa jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first six minutes of action.  Fogarty got the Patriots on the board with a goal, off an assist from Vanover to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 8:14 remaining in the first quarter.  The Braves added two unanswered goals to give them their largest lead of the game before Crouch led the response with a goal and an assist within 44 seconds to pull Cumberlands within one at 4-3 after the first. 

After an Ottawa goal, Kubik won the next faceoff and on the ensuing possession netted an unassisted goal four seconds later to make it 5-4.  UC won the next faceoff as Tanner Popovich put a well-placed shot into the cage to even the score at 5-5 with 11:55 left in the second quarter.  Just over a minute later, the Patriots took their first lead of the game as Crouch dodged form behind the cage and fired a shot into the upper corner to put UC in front 6-5.  Ottawa scored four of the final five goals in the period to take a 9-7 lead into the break. 

Cumberlands came out of the break strong, forcing a pair of Braves failed clears in the opening minutes as Crouch tallied an unassisted goal to bring UC within one at 9-8 wit 14:42 remaining.  Ottawa added a man-up goal, however, the Patriots continued to control the possession and put shots on frame.  Late in the quarter Crouch connected with Vanover for a man-up goal to cut the deficit to 10-9. Just over a minute later Morgan forced a turnover and on the ensuing transition Crouch netted the equalizer to make it 10-10 heading into the final quarter. 

Kubik won the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter and on that possession Dawson Coltran connected with Vanover for the goal to put UC in front 11-10.  The Patriots attacking line forced another Ottawa turnover in their defensive third of the field which led to Coltran putting a well-placed shot past the keeper to extend the lead to 12-10.  UC's backline continued to hound the Braves as Morgan and Schylar Chapman each forced a turnover as Settle add a save before Dom Lulow notched an unassisted goal at 4:47 to make it 13-10.  Ottawa added a late goal for the 13-11 final.

UC outshot Ottawa 57-30, which ties their season-high for shots in a game and is fourth most in program history.  The also scooped 49 ground balls to the Braves 30 in the game.

Cumberlands will return to the field Sunday, April 10, when they travel to Atchison, KS to face eighth-ranked Benedictine.  The game is set to begin at 1 p.m.

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