The Orange and Blue defeated La Salle in the MAWPC championship game this past weekend with a 11-3 win and claimed their second straight MAWPC title. With this victory, the Bison improved to a 4-1 record on the season and advance to the NCAA tournament held from March 18-21 in Los Angeles.  

The Bison shut out the Explorers for the last 23 minutes of the game after La Salle came within one point of the Bison with 7:40 remaining in the second quarter. La Salle had its first and only lead of the contest at 2-1 in the first quarter. With 3:31 left to go in the first quarter, Andu Vlasceanu ’24 was able to find center Doruk Ozar ’24, who scored the tying goal with 2:55 left in the first quarter. 

Matt Blackwell ’21 contributed to the Orange and Blue’s lead with a goal at the end of the first and gave the Bison a 4-2 lead over La Salle going into the second quarter. Although La Salle cut the lead to just one with a goal, Jared Stanley ’21 and Mitchell Scott ’22, both found the back of the cage and gave the Bison a 6-3 lead at the half. 

Ozar added two more goals for the Bison at the beginning of the third quarter, allowing the Bison to pull away with a 8-3 lead over the Explorers. Goalkeeper Adrien Touzot ’23 had several key blocks and saves in the cage for the Bison, keeping La Salle to only three goals for the entire game. Touzot managed 12 saves on the day, a season best. 

Scott Little ’21 and Kyle Poland ’21 represented the Bison’s senior class and brought the Bison to an 11-3 lead with goals of their own in the last quarter. However, it was Ozar who led the Bison scorers with four, followed by Little and Blackwell with two apiece. 

“It was a great team effort for us this weekend with contributions from every single teammate. We are looking forward to competing this weekend and getting another chance at the NCAA tournament. This upcoming weekend will be a chance for us to put everything we have been working towards into action,” Little said. 

“We made sure to be patient and find holes in their defense late into the shot clock. Everyone is super excited to go out to California and play next week,” Josh Yardley ’22 said.

The Bison have earned their second appearance in a row at the NCAA tournament with the win this weekend and will travel to California this upcoming weekend. Opponent and times will be determined later.