University of St. Thomas Lacrosse

One day after coming off of an emotional win over St. Johns, the Tommies headed for Fargo to scrimmage Moorhead and  tackle up and coming conference rival North Dakota State.  The Bison are a team that has been rapidly improving since 2004, thanks, in large part, to solid coaching and strong recruiting classes.  Throughout the 2011 season, the Bison have been steadily climbing the polls thanks to several top 25 wins, including a 7-6 overtime win against St. Johns on Saturday night in Fargo, which meant that Sunday’s game against the Tommies would determine which team would hold the number one seed in the conference playoffs.

The first half featured several quality possessions and strong defense for both teams. St. Thomas held a 2-1 halftime lead, thanks to senior Joe Costello’s two first half goals.  The Tommies were able to find their rhythm in the second half, however, outscoring the Bison 11-3, en route to a 13-4 victory.  Sophomore David Burke finished with two goals for the game, and Costello finished with five to lead the Tommies.  Freshman goalie Ryan Zeilinger turned in an outstanding performance, holding the Bison to just 4 goals.

The following Tuesday night, St. Thomas squared off against the Bethel University Royals to wrap up the 2011 season conference play, as well as to celebrate Senior Night for the nine players and two managers on the Tommie's roster this year. The Tommies came away with a 22-4 victory and now await the UMLL playoffs the weekend of April 29^th in St. Paul.