Grillo Breaks School Record as LAX Tops Daniel Webster

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's lacrosse team scored the first eight goals in a 12-3 victory over Daniel Webster College on Thursday afternoon.

Mitchell junior Adam Grillo led all scorers with four goals and three assists and became the school's all-time leading scorer in the contest. The Mariners (7-3 overall) also beat the Eagles (3-4 overall) for the first time in seven head-to-head match-ups.

Grillo, who also surpassed the school record for career ground balls (125) in the game, is two points away from becoming the first Mitchell player to reach 100 for his career. In 32 career games he has scored 72 goals and handed out 26 assists. His 33 goals this season now stands as the school's single season record.

Mitchell wasted little time in the opening quarter, outscoring Daniel Webster 7-0 over the first nine minutes of the contest. Grillo netted all four of his goals during the stretch and assisted on another as the Mariners took control.

Freshman Erik Vasquez scored the only goal of the second quarter to give Mitchell an 8-0 lead heading into the halftime intermission. Freshman goalie Peter Eshenfelder made six saves in the half to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard.

Daniel Webster found the scoring column just over five minutes into the second half when Chris Gordon finished off a feed from Justin Chiulli. The Eagles then got a score from Kieran Kavanaugh to cut the deficit to 8-2, but the Mariners extended the lead with goals from freshmen Demetre Lyras and Shane Sullivan to end the quarter. Both Lyras and Sullivan finished with hat tricks in the game.

Freshman Aaron Feinberg and Lyras each scored goals in the fourth quarter to put the game away for the Mariners. Daniel Webster's final goal came with four minutes to go when Kavanaugh found Chiulli open to the right of the crease.

Nate Burr got the start in the cage for the Eagles and recorded 10 saves against 47 shots. Kavanaugh and Chiulli each finished with a goal and an assist to lead the Daniel Webster attack.

Eshenfelder posted nine saves and allowed three goals or fewer for the third time this season. The Mitchell defense also turned in a strong effort on the day. Freshman Wayne Brookbanks matched up with Kavanaugh for most of the game and kept him in check. Kavanaugh entered the game ranked second in the nation in points per game (6.25).

Mitchell will next play at Regis College on Wednesday, April 20 at 6 p.m.