Naz Defeats Alfred; Utica and Houghton Come up Short
Nazareth 16, Alfred 5
Delaying Nazareth's men's home Empire 8 opener against Alfred lacrosse game from Wednesday to Thursday did not slow the Golden Flyers attack as Nazareth claimed a commanding 8-1 advantage in first half and went on to defeat visiting Alfred 16-5 in the Empire 8 contest. The Golden Flyers had seven different scorers to overwhelm the Saxons. Leading Nazareth's scoring was senior
Brian Wright, who had a game-high four goals, sophomore
Luke Wooters, who scored three goals and amassed six assists, and sophomore
Troy Haefele, who tallied three goals and two assists.
Wright ignited the scoring only 47 seconds into regulation with an unassisted score. Following Alfred's lone first half goal, which was scored by Nicolas Wood, the Golden Flyers added seven additional goals in the opening period. Wright scored Nazareth's second goal and capped the first quarter scoring with a man-up goal. Senior
Chris Aycock scored Nazareth's third goal, which was followed by another man-up goal by Haefele. Junior
Will Fallo scored the Golden Flyers' next two goals in a span of 43 seconds; both scoring chances were set up by Wooters. With just under two minutes remaining in the period, Wooters was on the scoring end of a man-up goal after receiving a pass from Haefele.
In the second period, Nazareth added three goals in the first 3:44. Haefele scored his second goal of the game only 14 seconds into the stanza, which was followed by Wooters' second goal about three minutes later. Wooters was credited with the goal as he slapped in a shot from the right side of the goal off an initial shot by junior
Matt McDermott. About 30 seconds later, Aycock tallied his second of the game after taking a pass from Wooters. With 7:59 to play in the half, sophomore
Matt O'Neill extended the Golden Flyers' lead to 12-1 after receiving a pass from Aycock.
Similar to the second quarter, Haefele scored in the opening of the third quarter. His third goal of the game, which he scored 64 seconds into the action, extended Nazareth's lead to 13-1. Wright added a man-up goal, which was followed by an even goal by Wooters to give the Golden Flyers a 15-1 advantage with 6:13 to play in the period. Alfred answered with two goals in the final 5:46 of the quarter as Brett Carroll and Nick Skibitsky found the back of the net.
The Saxons continued the scoring run into the fourth quarter with a pair of goals by Carroll that were separated by only 22 seconds. The first was on a man-up opportunity while the second was even strength. Both goals were unassisted. With his goals, Carroll ranks first on Alfred's team in the category with 12 on the season. Wood is second with 11.
Wooters' three goals and six assists gives him a team-leading 37 points on 19 goals and 18 assists. Haefele is second in scoring with 15 goals and 13 assists.
Sophomore
Scott Brown earned the victory in goal with 13 saves and three goals allowed in 50:41 of action. Freshman
Michael Cuciti played the final 9:19 and had two goals against and six saves. Cody O'Connor took the loss for Alfred with eight goals against and five saves. Tyler Beyor played the final three quarters and finished with seven goals against and five saves.
Junior
Drew Simoneau won 14 of 16 faceoffs during the first half, including 9 of 10 in the first quarter. Nazareth had commanding advantages in shots (44-32, including 21-4 in the first quarter) and ground balls (43-27, including 16-4 in the first quarter).
Potsdam 11, Utica 8
The Utica College men's lacrosse team snapped a two game winning streak on Thursday afternoon after an 11-8 loss to host SUNY Potsdam. The Pioneers outscored the Bears 5-4 in the second half, but their comeback bid fell short, as the home team was able to maintain at least a two goal advantage for the entire final quarter.
The Pioneers' (4-3 overall, 1-0 Empire 8) road woes continue as their record fell to 0-3 away from the friendly confines of Charles A. Gaetano Stadium this season. Utica's
Trent Jacobs (Akwesasne/Brewster Academy) and
Ross Cree (Akwesasne/Salmon River ) each netted two goals on the afternoon to pace the Pioneers, while defender
Tom Byrne (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) picked up a season-high ten ground balls. Senior captain
Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) finished the afternoon with one goal and two assists. Jacobs leads UC with 20 points on 14 goals and six assists this season.
UC got off to a slow start as the home team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1
st quarter behind two goals from senior captain Rob Kunz. Kunz shined for the Bears on the afternoon with a game-high five goals.
The Pioneers punched back with the first two goals of the second stanza by
Trent Jacobs (Akwesasne/Brewster Academy) and Zach Stevenson to cut their deficit to 3-2. Senior
Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) assisted on the first goal of the game for Utica. Both teams then exchanged goals 2:25 apart and the score stood at 4-3 with 4:16 left in the first half of play. Jacobs was credited with his second goal of the game to pace the Pioneers.
The Bears defended their home turf once again and netted three straight goals in a span of 1:21 to take a 7-3 lead as the halftime horn sounded.
The Pioneers came out hot in the third quarter as they have all season, outscoring Potsdam 2-0 in the 15 minute stretch, to cut the lead to 7-5 headed into the final quarter of play. The UC tallies came from the sticks of sophomore
Corey Thompson (Akwesasne/Salmon River) and
Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro). Utica has outscored its opponents 25-13 in the third quarter this season.
Potsdam took an 8-5 lead early in the fourth and final quarter. The Pioneers were able to cut their deficit to two goals on two different occasions in the quarter but the home team held Utica scoreless in the final seven minutes of action, and added a goal of its own, to seal the three goal victory.
Utica goalie
Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/CW Post) stopped 11 shots on the afternoon, while faceoff man
Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) picked up five ground balls. Potsdam goalie Ryan Duffy made 17 saves on the afternoon.
Hiram 11, Houghton 7
A big third quarter from Hiram broke open a tied game and sent the visitors to an 11-7 win over Houghton College in men's lacrosse action Thursday night on Burke Field.
The score was tied at three after the first half as the teams exchanged goals and shots over the first 30 minutes. Getting first half goals for the Highlanders were Sean Daigler (2) and Paul Chapman. Daigler's second tally tied the score with just over two minutes left in the half.
Houghton had a 20-12 advantage in first half shots.
Any momentum the Highlanders had going into the half was quickly lost in the third quarter as Hiram outshot Houghton, 12-11, and outscored the hosts, 7-0.
Down 10-3 entering the fourth, Houghton mounted a comeback, scoring four-straight goals over the first five minutes, but Hiram recovered, maintained better ball control and limited Houghton's scoring opportunities for the remainder of the contest. The Terriers added a final goal with just over a minute remaining.
Daigler and Chapman each finished with three goals and an assist. Shawn Schelble scored the other Houghton goal.
Gabe Browning played 37 minutes in net, making seven saves and allowing seven goals. Josh Haingray closed out the game in net with five saves and four goals against.