ST. LOUIS – The Maryville men's lacrosse squad scored eight times in the first 10 minutes, led 17-2 at halftime and rolled to a 23-9 victory over William Jewell in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener. Griffin Johnson poured in a career-high six goals, while Colin Tobias finished with five goals and two assists for a team-high seven points. Jack Tocko notched a pair of goals with four assists. Andrew Skifstad went a perfect 10-of-10 at the faceoff dot to ignite the Maryville offense.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tobias fired in the opening goal just 31 seconds into the game. Caiden Moon doubled the lead at the 13:10 mark. The Saints offense exploded for six goals in just over three minutes to take command. Wyatt Robertson started the burst with 8:10 to play in the opening quarter. Nearly exactly one minute later, Reme Lobitz fired in a goal. Tobias tacked on his second of the day, and Brenden Bloedel tacked on a score. Shea Raeburn continued the surge, and six seconds later, Tobias completed his hat trick with 4:59 remaining in the quarter. The Cardinals scored their only goal of the period on a man-up situation but Tobias fired in another goal, and Chris Anderson made it 10-1 after the opening quarter.
 
Tocko scored the first goal of the second quarter, and Eli Wingbermuehle found the back of the net for a 12-1 advantage. The Cardinals scored their second of the game but the Saints poured in five more goals before halftime. Tocko tallied again before Johnson scored his first goal. Robertson launched his second of the day prior to Johnson completing his hat trick to make it 17-2 at halftime.
 
The Saints steadily added on to their lead with additional goals coming from Asher Mackie and Jack Rosa in the second half. Maryville saw 12 different players score at least one goal in the contest. Evan Alfano allowed just the two goals in the first half to pick up the win in goal, while Spencer Strelecki came up with four saves in the second half.
 
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Goals: Griffin Johnson - 6
Assists: Jack Tocko - 4
Points: Colin Tobias - 7
Ground Balls: Andrew Skifstad - 5
Caused Turnovers: three players - 2
Faceoff Wins: Andrew Skifstad - 10
Saves: Spencer Strelecki - 4
 
RECORDS
No. 10 Maryville: 7-2, 1-0 GLVC
William Jewell: 6-3, 0-1 GLVC
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Saints take to the road for the first time in GLVC play with a clash at No. 7 Lewis Saturday, March 28, in Romeoville, Ill.