LAX Drops Season Opener to ECSU

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's lacrosse team opened the 2021 season with a 19-4 loss to Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday afternoon.

Camden Brown paced the Warriors with a game-high five goals while Shane Haggerty added four. Jake Liebowitz also had a productive day with two scores and four assists, and Tyler Koppy rallied the defense with game highs of nine ground balls and six caused turnovers. 

Joe Schley scored twice in his collegiate debut to lead the Mariners. Jade Shields and Dominick Reposa also found the back of the net in the contest, which was the first ever at Mitchell's turf field.

Kyle Cardoza scored just 26 seconds into the game to put the Warriors on the scoreboard. Liebowitz then capitalized on a man-up situation to make it 2-0, although Schley quickly responded with a tally to cut the deficit in half. That would be the lone Mitchell goal of the period, however, as Haggerty scored twice to spark a 4-0 run that left Eastern with a 6-1 lead after one.

Brown scored three goals in the second quarter as ECSU rolled the lead to 10-2 by halftime. Reposa accounted for Mitchell's only tally of the stanza, the first of his career.

After a quiet third period that featured just one goal, Shields opened the fourth-quarter scoring with his first of the season. Schley later added his second of the contest with 5:42 remaining as the Mariners executed well on a man-up opportunity.

Haggerty added a pair of scores in the final 15 minutes while Brown notched his final goal of the day with 1:40 remaining. Payten Nevins also added back-to-back goals to complete a hat trick, both off feeds from Liebowitz.

Eastern held a commanding 66-19 edge in total shots and won 21 of 26 face-offs. Goalies Jack Farrell and John Funk split time and combined for eight saves. Mitchell's Marcel Quinlan finished with 20 stops in net.

Mitchell (0-1 overall) will next play at the University of Saint Joseph on Wednesday, March 10 at 4 p.m. Eastern Connecticut (1-0 overall) will also play at USJ on Friday, March 5 at 5 p.m.