Alma, MI - The Hanover College men's lacrosse team took to the road this weekend to face the Scots of Alma College (Michigan). Hanover entered the game with 6 wins and 2 losses coming off a home win against Carrol Univesity in their last outing.

The Panthers came out looking sharp, outscoring the Scots 4-0 in the first quarter of action, and strung together five straight before Alma was able to get on the board. Each of the first five goals came from a different Panther - freshman midfielder Kasey Hospelhorn was the first to strike, followed by freshman and senior attackmen Dean Henderson and Alex Kleinhelter. After three straight unassisted goals, freshman attackman Dean Henderson was able to create some offense and dish to junior attackman Colin O'Brien for the easy backside finish.

HC continued their run to start the second quarter as freshman midfielder Gabe Hetrick beat his man one-on-one down the alley, and scored unassisted, putting the Panthers up 5-0. Alma was able to briefly halt the rolling momentum of the Panthers with a goal of their own, and then a six-minute stretch of solid defense until they were able to score a second goal thanks to a man-up opportunity.

However, freshman midfielder Gabe Hetrick was able to beat his man once more down the alley, and this time picked up an assist to junior attackman Colin O'Brien to put HC up 6-2, quieting the Scots' bench before heading into halftime.

The second half of play was similar to the first, with the Panthers controlling every aspect of the pace of play. Hanover scored the first and last goal of both the third and fourth quarters, and outscored the Scots 5-3 through the second half.

Junior attackman Colin O'Brien netted the opening two goals of the third quarter, assisted once by freshman attackman Dean Henderson. Senior attackman Alex Kleinhelter was the final goalscorer for the Panthers, scoring all three of their final goals, assisted on the last one by senior midfielder Owen Parker.

Hanover went on to take the contest 11-5, lead by a stellar performance from junior goalkeeper Matthew Hillard. Hillard started and played all sixty minutes of the contest, and made 10 saves on 29 shots faced (15 shots on goal).

The Panthers will now have a two week rest period before opening conference (HCLC) play at home on Wednesday April 2nd, against Transylvania University. First face-off is set for 4:00PM EST in Alumni Stadium.

Statistical Standouts from today's contest for the Panthers include:
Matthew Hillard (Jr, GK) - 10 Saves | 29 SF | 5 GA
Kasey Hospelhorn (Fr, MF) - 1 Pt | 9-12 FO | 5 GB | 3 CTO
Colin O'Brien (Jr, A) - 4 Goals | 67% Sh | 1 CTO