CANTON, Ohio -- The Lake Erie men's lacrosse team played Malone on Saturday afternoon, coming away with a 14-11 victory for their second win of the season. The Storm were dominant straight out of the gate, as Joey Ellison scored within the opening minute before Andrew Cramer went on to score four goals in the first quarter alone. A buzzer-beating goal by the Pioneers put them on the board, but heading into the second, Lake Erie held a 6-1 lead.
LEC's offense was contained to start the second, as Malone added two more scores to tighten the contest, but the scoring then came in bunches for the Storm. Lake Erie scored four goals in roughly four minutes to go up 10-3 in the dwindling seconds before halftime. However, the pesky Pioneers were once again able to convert late, cutting their deficit to six by the break.
Billy Coughlin was the first player from either side to find the back of the net after halftime, but the home team responded with four straight goals to tighten the LEC lead to just 11-8. That is when the Storm defense turned it up a notch, holding Malone scoreless from the 4:16 mark of the third quarter until 4:01 remained in the fourth. In the meantime, Coughlin scored two more goals, while Cramer put the finishing touches on a career-high six-goal performance. Up 14-8 with under five minutes to go, it looked all but over. However, Malone would not go away easily, putting up three more goals before the final horn, but it was far too little, too late as the Storm earned their first conference victory of the season.
Notables
It was a tale of two halves, as Lake Erie outshot Malone 29-16 by halftime, but that flipped in the second half, when the Pioneers fired 30 shots compared to just 15 for the Storm.
Despite winning nine more faceoffs, Malone struggled in the possession battle due to its turnovers, as the tenacious Storm defense created a +8 turnover margin, tied for Lake Erie's best mark of the season.
After failing to score in his first game of the season against D'Youville, Joey Ellison has now recorded a goal in every game since, giving him an active 10-game scoring streak after his two goals on Saturday.
Billy Coughlin had three assists to go along with three goals in another incredibly well-rounded performance. His 13 assists this season lead the team by a wide margin, and he sits just outside the top 10 in the conference.
Andrew Cramer's six goals marked the highest individual total by a Storm player this season and tied the most by a Lake Erie player since Kevin Albright scored seven in a game back in 2023.
Looking Ahead
The Storm have two games remaining on their schedule, as Tiffin heads to Painesville next Saturday for Senior Night, followed by a road game against Point Park on Tuesday, April 21. A pair of wins would keep Lake Erie in contention for sixth place in the G-MAC standings, good for the final spot in the conference tournament.
The Dragons are 4-8 this season and enter the game on a five-game losing streak after falling to Point Park, 12-10, earlier Saturday. Tiffin also defeated Malone earlier this season by a 13-6 score.
