Senior attackmen Hunter Sprole and Moses Taylor combined for seven goals and a pair of assists to lead Colorado College to a 22-10 victory over Centre College in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action on Friday afternoon at Washburn Field.

The Tigers eclipsed the 20-goal mark for the first time this season and the ninth time in 13 games since lacrosse became a conference sport in 2010. Unfortunately, the 10 goals scored by the Colonels are the most allowed by Colorado College in an SCAC game. The previous high was during a 20-7 victory over Sewanee on May 1, 2010.  

“I thought we moved the ball really well,” head coach Sean Woods said. “They threw a little zone at us and our guys were stepping into space well. The offense looked pretty good at times. We did not expect a shootout, but Centre is much improved and I have a lot of respect for their coach.

“The holes in the defense occurred because of stupid mistakes. That's something we can correct. We play good lacrosse in spurts, but we're having trouble playing 60 minutes.”

Sprole and Taylor scored unassisted goals to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead just 3:42 into the contest. Then, after sophomore midfielder Patrick Vaughn put the Colonels on the board, a man-up tally by Sprole ignited a 5-0 run that ended with a pair of markers from sophomore midfielder Jack Kreitler that gave Colorado College a 7-1 lead after 15 minutes.

Taylor added a pair of goals in the second quarter to help the Tigers build a 13-4 advantage at the break. He answered a goal by sophomore attackman Connor Stubbs during the first minute of the frame and scored again with 1:01 to go.

Junior midfielder Charles Curtis gave Colorado College a 10-goal lead when he scored 34 seconds into the second half and the Tigers built a 16-5 advantage with 9:04 to play in the third quarter after goals by freshman attackers Bennett Krishock and Ben Dohrmann.

Junior midfielder Scott Hughes scored twice during a 5-1 run as Centre cuts its deficit to eight goals two minutes into the fourth quarter, but the comeback stalled thanks to some ill-advised penalties and Colorado College scored three consecutive man-up goals to ignite a 5-0 run that put the game out of reach.   

“They came at us in the second half when we started to play more guys,” Woods said. “There was a little bit of a drop-off in our performance and there is no excuse for that. We always talk to our guys about finishing a game regardless of who is on the field.

“We didn't match the level of effort we had in the first half and Centre kind of crawled back on the board. It was a little disappointing.”

Taylor recorded a season-high four goals and five points to pace the Tigers. Sprole finished with three tallies and an assist, while Kreitler added three goals. Curtis set a career high with five assists and matched his single-game high with six points.

Colorado College finished with a 65-15 advantage in total shots and a 46-28 edge in ground balls.

Senior defender Zach Pierce had seven ground balls and caused three turnovers to lead the defense. Sophomore goalie Zach Steedman finished with four saves.

Sophomore goaltender Clayton Brown made 14 saves for Centre, which slipped to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Stubbs led the Colonels with three goals and three assists, while sophomore attackman Zach Connors scored twice and added an assist.

The Tigers, 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the SCAC, play host to Sewanee on Sunday at 1 p.m.