GAMBIER, Ohio – It took an entire half for the Kenyon College men's lacrosse team to get going. But once it did, it took over the game in a big way.
 
With a slim 5-3 halftime lead over last-place Hiram College, the Lords snapped to it by scoring three goals in the first 80 seconds of the third quarter and pulled away from the pesky Terriers for a 21-5 home victory in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) play on Saturday.
 
During the game, the Lords (11-3, 6-2 NCAC) set a new program, single-game, team record by firing off a total of 84 shots. More important than that record was the win, which locked the Lords into postseason play with the No. 3 seed for next week's NCAC Tournament.
 
Before Kenyon could get to that point, it had to overcome a sluggish start in which the defense yielded two goals in six minutes to Hiram's Chris Lekan. Chris Ferraro countered for Kenyon, scoring three times to give the Lords their first lead at 3-2 with 1:52 remaining on the first-quarter clock.
 
The Terriers (2-12, 0-8 NCAC) got another goal from Lekan to start the second quarter, but Ferraro scored his fourth straight goal and Robert Jacobs added another to get Kenyon to the half with a two-goal lead.
 
After intermission, the Lords decided enough was enough. Quick goals by Ferraro, Alec Foresta and Nick Vitale gave Kenyon an 8-3 lead. Following a goal by Alex Lopez midway through the third quarter, the Lords scored three more times in the span of 52 seconds. Pierce Kraft scored two of those goals—one on an assist by Emilio Sosa—to give him 18 goals on the season. Ferraro later added his game-high sixth goal of the game, giving him a team-leading 33 goals for the season.
 
Andrew Weinert added a goal with a minute to go in the third off an assist from Jacobs and Kenyon led, 13-4, after three quarters.
 
With the game well in hand, the Lords emptied their bench. Lopez added another goal, giving him 26 on the season; Jonah Florence scored his 15th goal; freshman Ben Bassett tallied his first; Sosa, Jacobs, Kraft and C.J. Clinkscales also scored.
 
The Lords outshot the Terriers, 84-13, collected 27 Hiram turnovers, and had a 23-7 advantage in face-offs, thanks mainly to freshman Will Swain, who won 22-of-27 battles in midfield.
 
Patrick Shevelson and Gabriel Avis split 60 minutes in goal and had two saves apiece. Hiram's Sawyer Lott had 23 saves and his fill-in, Mike Malloy, made six more saves for Hiram.
 
Kenyon now moves on to face No. 13-ranked Ohio Wesleyan University in the semifinal round of the four-team NCAC Tournament. That game will be played Wednesday in Delaware, Ohio with a 7 p.m. start.