ATLANTA – After taking a midweek loss at Transylvania on Wednesday, Centre men's lacrosse bounced back in a big way as they returned to conference play and defeated the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels 16-4. The victory marked the tenth in a row for the Colonels in the Southern Athletic Association.
 
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
 
- The Colonels began the game on a blistering pace as Will Hubbs scored the first goal of the contest after the first 11 seconds of play. Goals came early and often for Centre in the opening minutes. Chole Butler found Nate Malubay for a goal a little over a minute into the game, and then 12 seconds later, Max Speers scored off an assist by Mick Ginnity to make it 3-0 Colonels in the opening 80 seconds.
- Hubbs added another goal and then reigning SAA Offensive Player of the Week David Caldwell scored around the halfway point of the period to wrap up the scoring in the first quarter with Centre up 5-0.
- Centre kept the pressure on in the second period as four different players scored goals. Caldwell opened up the scoring in the second quarter and then Paxton Brown and Ridr Knowlton got on the board for the first time, the latter's goal off an assist from Hubbs. 40 seconds after Knowlton's goal, Speers scored for the second time in the game, with Caldwell providing the assist and Centre led 9-0 going into the halftime break.
- To open the third quarter, Alex Mozingo won the opening faceoff and got it to Knowlton, who immediately scored as the Colonels got a goal in the opening eight seconds. Knowlton scored again at the 2:40 mark, and after Oglethorpe finally got on the board, the Colonels got the goal right back as Noah Malubay scored after the second assist of the day for Ginnity.
- The Petrels scored the final three goals of the third quarter to make it 12-4, but Centre dominated the fourth. Ethan Hanna scored the first goal of the period, once again during the opening minute of the quarter. With just over ten minutes left, Brown scored his second goal of the day and then Knowlton scored his game high fourth off an assist by Nate Malubay. The final goal of the game was the third of the contest for Speers, assisted by Davis Wilmes.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
 
- Eight different players scored goals for the Colonels. Knowlton led all players with four, followed by Speers with three and three other players with two.
- The Colonels won 19 of 24 faceoffs, with Mozingo and Butler combining for 15 faceoff wins.
- Sammy Zickel earned the victory after finishing with nine saves, including seven in the first half.
- Centre outshot Oglethorpe 54-23 for the game, including a 40-13 edge in shots on goal.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Colonels will return home for the first time in almost a month with a Friday night clash against Rhodes in a rematch of last season's SAA title game.