BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- The Bridgewater College men's lacrosse team dropped a 9-5 contest to undefeated Ohio Northern in a snowy Jopson Athletic Complex on Sunday afternoon.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Ohio Northern 9, Bridgewater 5
Records: Bridgewater 3-1; Ohio Northern 5-0

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Eagles found the back of the cage first as Chris Martel was fed a pass by Hayden Gourley, 1-0. Just over a minute and a half later, Tyler Ferguson tied the game for the Polar Bears. Aidan Dempsey then put ONU in front, 2-1, with 8:14 remaining in the first quarter. Martel scored his second of the game with an assist to Connor McLean to notch the game at 2-2 to end the quarter.
• Dempsey scored again to start off the second period before Colin Willits doubled the lead to 4-2 after a man-up score. Luke Wendler found McLean with three minutes to go in the half to make the score 4-3 at the break.
• Ohio Northern pulled away in the third quarter with three-straight goals to assume a 7-3 lead. Wendler eventually ended the scoring run with a goal at the 3:55 mark of the third as the Polar Bears maintained their 7-4 lead into the final 15 minutes.
• Ferguson finished his hat trick with a goal at the 12:44 mark to put ONU up 8-4. Drew Huber was able to tally a man-up goal with 2:49 left in the game, but Dempsey scored with nearly 90 seconds left in the game to aid the Polar Bears in a 9-5 win.

GAME STATS

•  Martel led the Eagles with two goals, while McLean led the team with three points on a goal and two assists.
• Wendler had a two-point day with a goal and an assist, while Huber recorded the remaining goal. Gourley also had an assist in the loss.
• Gabriel Alexander went 6-for-11 in faceoffs with three ground balls, while Samuel Sharps won 4-of-6 with a ground ball.
• Ryan Addison led the game with three caused turnovers and picked up four ground balls, while Brennan McKeown grabbed three ground balls and Grant Heidebrecht picked up two ground balls and caused a turnover. 
• Tyler Carney led the way with five ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers. He also made 12 saves in all 60 minutes in the cage. Across the field, Cole Zaferakis stopped 11 shots in the win.
• Ohio Northern outshot Bridgewater 42-30, while each team had a matching 34 ground balls. Both teams also turned over possession 21 times with Bridgewater causing one more than ONU with seven CTs.
• This is the lowest scoring game in which the Eagles have been involved since an 11-3 loss in the 2021 ODAC Tournament semifinal against Washington and Lee.

UP NEXT
Bridgewater concludes its three-game homestand with its ODAC opener against Ferrum on Saturday, March 18, at 1 pm.