men’s lacrosse rolls past mariners

Senior Mickey Norton, who is named after Mick Jagger, couldn’t get any satisfaction on the Muhlenberg men’s lacrosse spring trip, but he sure got it when the team returned home to play Merchant Marine.

Norton tied his career high of four assists as the Mules defeated the Mariners, 10-6, in their final tuneup for Centennial Conference play.

Norton was suspended for a game after

Sophomore Ari Jacobson gave the Mules a 2-0 lead with an unassisted goal three minutes into the first quarter.

drawing a fighting penalty in Muhlenberg’s season opener against Stevens. Despite the best efforts of the coaching staff, the suspension was not overturned, and Norton was relegated to filming duties for the Mules’ 12-6 win at Greensboro.

“Watching my teammates win just made me want to get back even more,” said Norton. “I couldn’t even sit through class today. I was ready to play.”

Muhlenberg’s all-time assists leader put his pent-up energy to good use against Merchant Marine. A little more than two minutes into the game, Norton ran the length of the field, then passed to junior Andrew Lolley for the first goal of the contest.

“Right at the start I fed Lolley and I knew it was going to be a big day,” said Norton.

Three more assists followed, one a pass from behind the net that freshman Brent Siebold caught, then spun and shot for one of his four goals. The Mules (2-1) never trailed, but spent a good portion of the first half clinging to a one- or two-goal lead.

Lolley’s second goal, with 6:33 left in the half, gave Muhlenberg its first three-goal advantage, at 7-4, and then the defense took over. After neither team scored in the third quarter, consecutive goals by senior Kyle Farris and Siebold – both assisted by sophomore Ivan Asplundh – in the fourth finally gave the Mules breathing room at 9-4.

The Mariners (1-3) were kept off the scoreboard for almost 32 minutes before finally scoring their fifth goal midway through the fourth quarter.

“Our defense played as a unit, talked a lot and hit a lot,” said Norton. “They have some good scoring threats, and our three defensemen really shut them down.”

Sophomore Andrew Bell also played a big role, making 11 saves.

Farris’ extra-man goal with 18.9 seconds left capped his second straight hat trick and a 10-6 win against a team that had lost to Centennial Conference opponents Swarthmore and Franklin & Marshall by one goal in its last two games.

“Those are teams that we feel we’re with, competitive-wise,” said Norton. “The big test is Saturday [against nationally ranked Washington]. This was good preparation.”
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