Potent offense fuels men’s lax hot start

The Baldwin Wallace University men’s lacrosse team has gotten off to a hot start, amassing a 4-2 record to kick off the 2018 season. BW is playing under a new Head Coach, Trey Keeley, who takes control of the program after a three-year stint at Ohio Wesleyan University.

The Yellow Jackets have received massive contributions from junior attack Mike Nanosky, junior attack Chad Steinwachs, sophomore midfielder Ben Kubiak and senior goalkeeper Mike Dizonno throughout their first six nonconference games.

BW started their season with two offensive eruptions. The Jackets recorded a 26-1 victory in their season opener and first career victory for Keeley against Washington & Jefferson (Pa).

In this matchup, Steinwachs tallied a career-high and school-record seven goals, and Dizonno made eight saves on 23 shots, while only giving up the only goal of the game.

The second game of their season ended in a 28-5 victory against Olivet (Mich.) where Mike Nanosky and Justin Presutti both recorded a careerhigh four goals. Dizonno did
not give up any goals in the 30 minutes of action he saw.

The offense slowed down over the next three games where the Jackets won one game and lost two.

In their 14-10 victory over St. Vincent (Pa.), senior Matt McDowell had a career day, recording four goals in the matchup.

In their two losses against Southern Virginia and Transylvania (Ky.), the Jackets were outscored 28-19. According to Chad Steinwachs, those “couple losses turned into some great learning experiences” and they were able to “really focus on ourselves and how we can get better” after having a full week of practice.

On March 10, the Jackets won their final non-conference contest of the season versus Alma (Mich.) inside George Finnie Stadium for the first time of the year by a score of 12-5. A total eight of Jackets registered a goal in the win.

As the Jackets open up Ohio Athletic Conference play on the road against Muskingum on March 23, Steinwachs and BW are looking forward to a fun, but challenging road ahead.

“OAC play is always fun and every week is a big game because they all count towards the playoffs. (We are) looking forward to some great games coming up in April and May.”