GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Ohio Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team opened up the 2026 season at long last on Saturday, traveling to Pennsylvania for a mid-afternoon matchup against Grove City. The Battling Bishops and the Wolverines went to overtime but unfortunately the hosts had the upperhand in the extra period, ending the game at 14-13 with a sudden-victory goal with 3:18 remaining.

The Red and Black start the season 0-1. Grove City moves to 1-1.

The first quarter was a defensive struggle with just three goals combined between the two sides, making it a 2-1 game in favor of Grove City in the early going. Garrett Smith scored the lone goal for Ohio Wesleyan in the first 15 minutes of action.

The Battling Bishops slipped behind to start the second quarter, falling four back in the first five minutes at 5-1, before going on a four-goal run to get back in the game at 5-5. Wade Beckstrom turned in a quick hat trick, scoring the first three goals of that four-goal streak with the fourth going to Max Kemp – his first career goal. The Wolverines would score one more before the half, taking a 6-5 lead at the break.

OWU pulled ahead 10-8 in the third quarter, outscoring Grove City 5-2. Four of those goals came in a run of Trey Weber, Will Siegenthaler, Riley Platter, and Blake Altman, with Garrett Smith scoring the fifth after a brief interruption from the other side.

The fourth quarter was as close as could be as the two sides traded blows until the game was ultimately tied up at 13-13. Smith, Henry Ross, and Luca DiCarlo accounted for the three goals for the Red and Black. Grove City scored the equalizer with 2:41 left. The Wolverines then went on to win the game in overtime on a man-up opportunity with 3:18 remaining, making the final score 14-13.

THE NUMBERS
OWU held a slight 28-24 advantage in shots on goal, putting 63.6% of their 44 shots on target. The Battling Bishops were perfect on clears, 29-for-29. The Red and Black picked up 54 ground balls and went 18-of-30 on faceoffs.

Garrett Smith and Wade Beckstrom led the Bishops on offense with four points each, matching each other with three goals and one assist apiece. Beckstrom also secured six ground balls while Smith picked up three.

Will Siegenthaler scored one goal and added two assists for three points.

Max Kemp put away his first career goal and picked up five ground balls in his collegiate debut.

Riley Platter, Henry Ross, Trey Weber, Blake Altman, and Luca DiCarlo each scored once.

Noah Citek took 29 of the 30 faceoffs in the game, winning 18 and picking up nine ground balls.

Weber and Luke Miller led Ohio Wesleyan on the defensive end with two caused turnovers each. Miller also recorded two ground balls.

Henry Pinamonti tallied one caused turnover and four ground balls.

Jack Hartman managed one caused turnover and three ground balls.

Jayden Franzen finished with one caused turnover and two ground balls.

Freshman Jack Hartman (0-1) got the start in his collegiate debut in the cage, playing all 60:42 and making 10 saves.

UP NEXT
The Battling Bishops start their home schedule in 10 days, hosting Adrian on Tuesday, February 24th at 5 p.m.