KANSAS CITY, MO – The Quincy University Hawks hit the road on two days' rest to face No.17 Rockhurst University on Friday night (Feb.19) at Bourke field. This was the second nationally ranked opponent the Hawks have played in the first three matches of the season, and QU dropped the contest 15-6. 

Rockhurst won the opening draw at the face off and scored 32 seconds later to notch the first goal of the game. Quincy then fended off Rockhurst's attack for multiple minutes forcing a Rockhurst timeout after they had a clear. Rockhurst's Ricky Bloom fired it past QU keeper Ryan Riggs at point-blank range to take a 2-0 lead with 7:25 left in the first. Rockhurst extended its first quarter lead to 3-0 lead with 4:43 left after a Quincy turnover.

Neal Dardis fired a shot that missed high with 2:47 left in the first, and Jordan Ernst shot it wide for his second attempt of the game 33 seconds later. Blaine Lowerance had a shot on goal with 2:03 to go, but Rockhurst's keeper made his first save of the first quarter on the strike at the net. Both teams had nine turnovers and seven ground balls each during the first period, but Rockhurst held a 3-0 lead as QU went just 6-12 on clearing the ball in the first frame. 

Rockhurst opened the second frame with a goal just 1 minute and 54 seconds in and grabbed a 4-0 advantage. Rockhurst shortly followed with another goal to lead 5-0 after Brooks Hanson scored with 12:13 left in the second period.

Quincy's Jayme Brain answered with QU's first goal of the contest after he caught the pass from Preston Willman on the near arc. This is the third consecutive game Brain has scored and it was his fourth goal of the season to make the deficit 5-1 with 11:09 to go before halftime. RU scored again with 6:17 to go to extend their lead at 6-1. One minute later, Rockhurst had a successful clear which led to a quick transition play and another goal as they held a 7-1 advantage.

Quincy then held the possession on the man-up after a slashing penalty called on Rockhurst. Brain reversed it around the perimeter, and Preston Willman scored his second goal of the season on a furious strike from the near wing with 2:32 to go to make it 7-2.

Noah Gershman followed with a shot on goal with 45 seconds left in the half, but Rockhurst cleared it out and notched another transition tally with 35 seconds to go in the second quarter. Quincy trailed 8-2 at the break, and had four shots on goal in the first half. Defensemen Jared Fournier and Zack Springborn combined for seven ground balls during the first 30 minutes of the game.

Rockhurst extended its lead by scoring just one minute and 13 seconds into the third quarter. Rockhurst followed with another goal less than two minutes later and led 10-2 with 12:17 left in the third quarter. Rockhurst scored its fourth unanswered goal with 7:07 left in the third to go up by nine goals at 11-2. 

Dardis received a dime from Willman and QU scored with 3:59 to go in the third to make the score 11-3. This was Willman's second assist of the game. Rockhurst followed with two unanswered goals until Jayme Brain notched his second goal of the game on an unassisted attack to make the score 13-4 with 8:39 left in the fourth quarter.

The Hawks continued their attack as Jordan Ernst fired a shot to score his first goal of the year which made the score 13-5 with 7:01 left in the fourth. The envelope was pushed once more as Blaine Lowrance found Gage Evans at point-blank outside the crease, and QU trailed 13-6 after its third consecutive goal with 3:01 left in regulation. 

After QU trailed 11-2 with 7:07 left in the third, they scored four of the final eight goals to close out the 15-6 loss.

Quincy committed 28 turnovers while causing nine and went 8-24 on face offs. The Hawks stayed disciplined and didn't commit a penalty, while Rockhurst had seven penalties in the contest. QU had six minutes on the one-man advantage and scored once on seven advantages. Goalie Ryan Riggs made 11 saves and stopped shots at a .423 clip in his first career collegiate start. The Hawks also went 26-36 on clears. 

The Stat Sheet
Jayme Brain – 2 goals, 1 assist
Preston Willman – 1 goal, 2 assist
Neal Dardis – 1 goal
Gage Evans – 1 goal
Zach Springborn – 5 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers

Next Up
The Hawks will return home next Saturday (Feb. 27) to host Maryville University at 2:00 PM CT.