Men's LAX Falls 12-4 in Season Opener at Mount Saint Mary
NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College men's lacrosse team defeated Mitchell College, 12-4, in the season opener for each squad on Wednesday evening at Kaplan Field.
Freshman midfielder Daniel Kugler and freshman attackman Kenneth Gallagher opened their rookie seasons with a bang, as each tallied a hat trick to help lead the Knights to the opening-day win. Kugler added an assist for four points on the evening. Sophomore attackman Joseph Rizzotti tallied a game-high five points on three helpers and a pair of scores.
Mitchell junior Dan DiGioia kicked things off with a goal at the 9:20 mark of the first quarter to get the Mariners on the board first. Freshman attackman Tristan Earle tied the game with a man-up goal with 5:07 to play in the first.
Rizzotti scored in the second minute of the second quarter on another extra-man opportunity for the Knights. Gallagher scored the Knights' third straight man-up goal just three minutes later to put the home team up, 3-1. Freshman midfielder Dylan De Meo then scored the Knights' first even-strength goal with nine minutes left in the half to improve the lead to three goals. Senior Jordan Cook scored a man-up goal for the Mariners to cut the deficit to two, but Kugler scored his first of the season on a snipe from 20 yards out with just two seconds left to send the Knights into the locker room with a 5-2 advantage.
Mitchell scored two of the first three goals after halftime, but Rizzotti, Gallagher and Kugler all managed to score in the third quarter to keep the Knights up, 8-4, with 15 minutes to play. Gallagher and Kugler's goals kicked off a 6-0 run by the Knights, including another goal by each one to start the fourth. De Meo found the back of the net for the second time with 6:30 to play, and senior midfielder Jake Robison capped of the scoring with 4:07 to play on a man-up goal to put the Knights up by eight.
Freshman goalkeeper Christopher Doerr earned his first collegiate victory between the pipes, stopping 4-of-8 shots in the process. Mitchell's JD LeMay made 15 saves but yielded 12 scores to shoulder the loss.
Robison finished off the day with three points after adding a pair of assists to go with his goal. Earle picked up a goal and an assist in his first collegiate game. Senior midfielder David Hobbs dished out an assist as well to help in the victory.
Kugler, Rizzotti and De Meo shared the team lead with three caused turnovers on the evening. De Meo snatched up a game-high eight ground balls while Kugler and Gallagher each scooped up six. Junior midfielder Brendan Nestola went 11-of-17 from the faceoff circle.
DiGioia scored twice to lead the Mariners on offense. Senior Joshua Muckle, who went 8-of-19 on faceoffs, also scored in the game. Newcomer Brian Jordan caused three turnovers and matched LeMay with six ground balls to lead the team.
The Knights' offense looked sharp in their first game of 2015, firing off 52 shots and putting 27 on goal. The defense held the Mariners to just 11 attempts, eight of which were on target. The Knights also went a perfect 18-of-18 on clear attempts, while their guests converted just 13-of-27.
Mitchell will return to action at home against Lebanon Valley College on Saturday, March 7.