Clarke Spoils Warriors' Season Opener

FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University opened its 2024 men's lacrosse season on Saturday afternoon as it hosted Clarke University. The Warriors dropped an 11-5 decision to the Pride in nonconference action on the turn at Heedum Field. The Pride scored three goals with a man- advantage to quell any comeback attempts by the Warriors on the afternoon.

Clarke scored the game's first goal when Ryder Chaba scored on a Doug Pawless assist to put the Pride ahead 1-0, with 10:32 remaining in the first quarter. Midland answered quickly, however, as Preston Davis scored off a Carson Meier assist, exactly one minute later, to tie the score at one. The score remained locked up for about nine minutes, before Clarke's Justyse White scored his first goal of the day, off a Matt Archer assist, to make it 2-1, Pride, with 1:35 left in the quarter. Clarke doubled the lead, just before the quarter break, when Aiden Gudenkauf found the net, assisted by Doug Pawless, to put the Pride up, 3-1, with three seconds remaining in the first.

In the second quarter, Midland's Zachary Brown was called for a slashing penalty, with 11:35 to play. Eighteen seconds later, Chaba scored his second goal of the day to put Clarke ahead, 4-1. Midland answered near the midway portion of the second quarter, when Carson Meier scored an unassisted goal, to make the score 4-2, Pride, with 7:51 left in the half. Clarke answered right back, however, when White scored his second goal, with 5:41 to go before halftime. With Matt Archer's assist, the score was 5-2, Clarke. Neither team would score for the remainder of the half, and the Pride took a three-goal lead into the locker room.

Both teams showed good defense for the early part of the third quarter before Midland scored the first goal after halftime. After a penalty on Clarke's Maurice Harrison for unnecessary roughness, with 7:07 remaining, Brian Cole scored for the Warriors, unassisted, to pull the Warriors within two, at 5-3, with 6:46 to play in the third. Just over three minutes later, the Pride answered, as Matt Archer scooped up a ground ball and scored with 3:32 remaining, to make it a 6-3, Clarke advantage. Another Warrior penalty proved to be costly, after Carson Meier was charged with an illegal body check at 2:21 left in the quarter. 49 seconds later, Henry La Belle scored off a White assist, to make it 7-3, Pride, with 1:32 left in the third. Midland showed some fight, right before the quarter concluded. After Asher Thomas forced a turnover, Preston Davis scored, with one second remaining, making the score, 7-4, in favor of the Pride, headed to the fourth quarter.

Two quick goals, early in the final quarter, put the game out of reach, however. White scored off an Archer assist, with 14:31 left, to make it 8-4, Clarke. Then a Ryder Chaba score, assisted by Ethan Payne, made it 9-4, Pride, with 13:34, to play. Midland would tally its' final goal of the day near the midway portion of the fourth when Dominic Jochim found the back of the net, helped out by Joshua Pereira, to make it 9-5, with 7:27 left. The Pride responded quickly when Doug Pawless scored unassisted, with 7:05 remaining, to make it a 10-5, Clarke lead. With 1:52 remaining in the game, Carson Meier was penalized for a cross-check, and with 1:17 to play, Aiden Gudenkauf scored the Pride's third man-up goal, off a Matt Archer assist, to make the final tally, 11-5.

Midland got one goal from Brian Cole. Joshua Pereira had one assist. Dominic Jochim scored once. Carson Meier had one goal and one assist, while Preston Davis had two goals.

Wyatt Dudziak stopped 12 of 23 Pride shots and took the loss.

Midland (0-1) will play its first road game next Friday at Benedictine (XX). The game is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday in Atchison, Kansas.