by Alan Babbitt

The Hope College men's lacrosse team stands alone atop the MIAA standings after an 19-6 victory against Adrian College on Wednesday at home.

In a matchup of teams with unbeaten league records, the Flying Dutchmen never trailed after scoring the first two goals of the game at Van Andel Soccer Stadium.

Hope (11-2 overall, 3-0 MIAA) pushed its winning streak to six games.

"I think from the jump we got after it," head coach Michael Schanhals said. "Our senior leaders just asserted themselves. Cole Scheffler on the dot, Brayden Blackburn on the wing, and Zach Wiggins and Jack Radzville on attack did a nice job of setting the tempo in our favor. We ran the field very well, created a lot of opportunities for us and put a lot of strain on them. 

"We wanted to make it a whole field game, just make them work for every little thing. I think we did a nice job of doing that."

Wiggins (Kalamazoo, Michigan / Mattawan HS) and fellow senior Ethan Pinto (Caledona, Michigan / Caledonia), pictured left to right, scored 36 seconds and 1 minute, 1:37 seconds into the game for a 2-0 Flying Dutchmen lead.

Radzville (Howell, Michigan / Howell) and senior Jonathan Mann (Plymouth, Michigan / Detroit Jesuit) extended Hope's lead to 4-1 before Wiggins and Pinto each struck again to put the Flying Dutchmen ahead, 6-2, at the end of the first quarter.

Hope then scored all five second-quarter goals to seize a commanding halftime lead.

Wiggins and Pinto shared team-high honors with four goals against Adrian (10-3, 2-1 MIAA).

With 41 goals this season, Wiggins matched Caleb Digison (2014) for ninth most in a single-season at Hope. The school record of 64 belongs to Gunnar Elder (2016).

Radzville chipped in three goals and a team-leading two assists for the Flying Dutchmen.

Senior Ian Bosman (Centennial, Colorado / Cherry Creek) made 11 saves for Hope while playing 55 of 60 possible minutes in goal. 

The Flying Dutchmen's next game is Saturday, April 23, at 1 p.m. at Kalamazoo College.