GAMBIER, Ohio – Trailing 8-6 at the start of the fourth quarter in Tuesday's North Coast Athletic Conference contest, the Kenyon College Lords lacrosse team erupted for nine unanswered goals and shocked the visiting College of Wooster Fighting Scots, 15-8, at McBride Field.

Sophomores Robert Jacobs and Alex Lopez were key components in the Lords' massive rally. Jacobs, who scored a game-high five goals, netted four of them in the final 15 minutes. Lopez had four goals for the game and three of them were scored in the fourth quarter.

It took a tad more than two minutes for Jacobs to score the first two goals of the final frame and knot the contest up at 8-8. Lopez then scored at the 11:27 mark to give the Lords their first lead of the game. His goal would also stand as the game-winner.

Jacobs scored again at 10:14 and Lopez followed up with two more Kenyon tallies. Jonah Florence later scored a man-up goal and, just like that, the Lords had a comfortable 13-8 lead and all the momentum on their side with roughly seven minutes remaining on the clock.  

It was a stunning finish to a game that was tightly contested for the first 45 minutes. Wooster stormed out from the start, unleashing 32 shots at the Kenyon goal in the first half of play. The Fighting Scots' largest lead of the half was 3-1 and they made it to halftime with a 5-4 advantage. Kenyon had just 14 first-half shots, but junior goalkeeper Patrick Shevelson kept the Lords in the game by making 14 first-half saves.

The tables turned dramatically in the second half as Kenyon made the proper adjustments and played lock-down defense. The Lords held Wooster to just one goal on eight second-half shots. Shevelson made another four saves, giving him a season high 18, while the Kenyon defense forced 13 Wooster turnovers over the final 30 minutes. Sophomore Cam Thomas forced four of those turnovers and also collected four groundballs.

The Lords made three early trips to the penalty box, but survived all three without yielding a goal. Wooster played a man-down six times and yielded three goals to Kenyon. All three of those goals were scored in the second half.

In addition to the offense generated by Roberts and Lopez, Kenyon received two goals and an assist from senior Nick Lenard, as well as three assists from his classmate Pat Kim. Florence and Fritz Waine each added a goal and an assist, while J.T. Meyer chipped in with a goal and two assists.

It was a big win for Kenyon (5-4, 3-1 NCAC), as it remains just a game out of first place in the NCAC standings. Wooster (7-4, 2-2 NCAC) slid a game back of Kenyon and dropped to fifth place overall. The Lords' next game will be Saturday at Wittenberg University, a team that also has just one loss in NCAC play.