Big Wins Conclude the Regular Season

4/26/2014 7:12:00 PM

STEVENS 15, ITHACA 11
The Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team ended the 2014 regular season with a 15-11 upset of No. 11 Ithaca College in Empire 8 Conference play on Saturday at Higgins Stadium.

With the win, Stevens is now 8-7, 5-2, while Ithaca falls to 12-4, 6-1, heading into next Wednesday's Empire 8 semifinal contest at Ithaca on April 30 at 4 p.m.

The Ducks never trailed on Saturday and jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter of the first 5:33 of play. Sophomore Colin Sawula got things started just 35 seconds into the game with an unassisted score. Just 1:10 later, junior Paul Romens took a pass from sophomore DJ Bonifacic off a clear in transition to put Stevens ahead, 2-0. Senior Charlie Cronin tallied a man-up score at the 9:27 mark off a pass from junior Michael Maroon before Ithaca ended Stevens' string 1:02 later.

Ithaca pulled to within one goal at 3-2, after 1:02 burned off the clock, but the Ducks answered with 5:34 to go in the period on the eighth goal of the season from senior Sean Scrudato which was assisted by Cronin. The Bombers struck again with just over two minutes left in the frame, but Stevens would have the last say in the first with 26 seconds to go on the first of four goals scored by sophomore Andrew Scrutchfield off a pass from freshman Nick Hammell.

Stevens would outscore Ithaca, 5-2, in the second quarter to a take a 10-5 lead into halftime. After four minutes elapsed in the stanza, Scrutchfield found the back of the net on an unassisted tally, and he would score again, at the 9:51 mark before Cronin staked the Ducks to an 8-3 advantage with 8:19 to go. Freshman Connor McKeon gave Stevens its largest lead of the half at 9-3 midway through the second on another unassisted goal. Ithaca would net two goals in a 20-second span to snap Stevens' scoring barrage to cut its deficit to 9-5 with just over two minutes left before intermission. Scrutchfield notched his hat trick after the ensuing faceoff for the final goal of the half.

The Bombers pulled to within three, 10-7, over the opening 5:17 of the third quarter. Five more minutes came off the clock before either team would score again – as sophomore Tim Fair capitalized off a pass from junior JP Giroux. Sophomore Anthony Raposo put the Ducks back up by five goals at 12-7 just 34 seconds later and then Sawula recorded his second goal with 2:02 remaining. The Ducks would take a seven-goal cushion into the final period of play in the waning seconds of the third quarter on a marker from freshman Jake Gargiulo which was assisted by Bonifacic.

Ithaca opened the fourth quarter with an unassisted goal nearly five minutes in, but Stevens responded with 8:48 left in regular on another goal from Raposo, assisted by Maroon, for its final goal of the game. With the Ducks leading, 15-8, the Bombers attempted a comeback with two goals in 10 seconds, but would go cold over the next 4:15 before they could score again. Ithaca's final goal came with 2:33 to go in the contest.

Despite being outshot, 53-43, Stevens earned a solid effort in goal from sophomore Austin Boyd, who stopped a career-high 15 shots in the win.

Groundballs were nearly even, but Ithaca held a slight edge at 39-38. The Bombers also converted on 14-of-15 clears, while Stevens was successful on 15-of-23 tries.  Ithaca also won 18-of-29 faceoffs in the game.

The 15 goals scored by Stevens was the second-most goals allowed by Ithaca all season and just the third time that an opponent eclipsed double-digits on the Bombers.


ST. JOHN FISHER 9, Nazareth 8
The St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team scored five straight goals in the second quarter and goalie Jamie Campagna made two great saves in the final 15 seconds, as the Cardinals held on for a 9-8 win at Nazareth College in the final regular-season game for both teams.

Nazareth outshot Fisher 14-6 in the opening quarter, but the two teams were tied at 1-1 after one with Fisher's Taylor Muztafago going coast-to-coast for a man-down goal.

Nazareth led 3-2 with 10 minutes left in the second quarter, before Fisher began its decisive rally.

Dante Giordano scored with 7:34 left in the half to tie the game at 3s and 35 seconds later, Brett Farrell put Fisher up for good.   Jeff Wester made it 5-3, as the senior tippy-toed along the crease and found the back of the net with 5:46 left.   Again, 35 seconds later, Farrell scored a man-up goal with Wester assisting to make it four goals in a 2:23 span.  Wester set up teammate Nick Rossi in the closing moments of quarter to put Fisher up 7-3 at the break.

Nazareth scored the first two goals of the second half in the opening three minutes, but Fisher answered right back.  Long-stick David Haseley scored his fifth goal of the game and Gary Bova scored his 21^st goal of the year to make it 9-5 going into the fourth.

Thanks to two man-up goals, the Golden Flyers pulled to within one with just over four minutes left, but couldn't get any closer.  Campagna deflected a shot with his stick over the net with just under 15 seconds left and kicked another shot wide in the final seconds to preserve Fisher's first-ever win at its East-Avenue rival.
Campagna finished the game with 17 saves, while Haseley led the Cardinals with five ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Wester (one goal, three assists) and Farrell (two goals, two assists) both finished with four points.  Drew Brown (one goal) and Greg Ramsden (one assist) both tallied one point. Paul Cefalu was 10-for-21 on faceoffs.


ALFRED 11, Hartwick 4
The Alfred University men's lacrosse team improved to 5-8 (2-5 Empire 8) after an 11-4 win over visiting Hartwick College, Saturday evening. This game marks the end of the 2014 season.
           
The Saxons controlled the tempo from the start, jumping to a 3-1 lead after the first quarter, and further establishing a 7-3 lead heading into halftime. For the game, AU outshot Hartwick, 43-27, and held a slight 30-25 groundball advantage.
           
Senior midfielder Brendan Sullivan (Stafford, VA/Kiski School) paced the Saxons with a game-high four goals. Sophomore midfielder Tanner Morse (Corning, NY/Corning East) and freshman midfielder Derek Bishopp (Livonia, NY/Livonia) each netted two goals.
           
Senior defender Pat Walsh (Lakeview, NY/Bishop Timon-St. Jude) and senior defender Chris Tauterouff (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) anchored the Alfred defense with nine and five groundballs, and five forced turnovers apiece.
           
Junior goalie Cody O'Connor (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) made seven saves in 57 minutes of play, before junior Tyler Beyor (Carthage, NY/Carthage) took over in net for the remainder of the contest.


UTICA 19, Houghton 2
The Utica College men's lacrosse team closed out its 2014 campaign with a convincing 19-2 victory over host Houghton College on Saturday afternoon.  Utica's Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) led the way with six assists and broke the College's all-time record for assists in a career.  Schoen capped his career with 82 assists, eclipsing the previous record of 78 held by Nate Jobson '05.

The Pioneers jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back as they finished the year with an 8-8 overall record. Saturday's win gave the Pioneers a final record of .500 or better for the third straight season and it marked the sixth time in program-history that UC has finished the year with eight or more wins. Three wins in the Empire 8 this season is tied for the second-most conference victories in program-history.

Seven Pioneers netted two goals including Trent Jacobs (Akwesasne/Brewster Academy), Christian Reiller (Salamanca, NY/Genesee CC), Andrew Jamieson (Six Nations, ON/Hagersville), Steve Dowd (Cohoes, NY/Shaker), TJ Benson (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore), Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) and Ross Cree (Akwesasne/Salmon River ).  Two goals is a new career-high for both Finnegan and Dowd.

Reiller, a junior transfer, finished the season with a team-best 42 points on 29 goals and 13 assists, while Jacobs capped his sophomore year with 37 points on 26 goals and 11 assists. Jacobs now has 75 points in two seasons with the Pioneers.

Benson wrapped up his senior season with a career-high 13 goals and he finished his collegiate career with 56 points (46 goals, 10 assists). Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Grayson Phillips (Akwesasne/Massena) each added a career-high two assists for Utica.

The Pioneers netted the first 11 goals of the contest before Houghton got on the board with 11:03 to go in the second quarter.

Utica then rattled off eight of the game's next nine goals to secure their largest margin of victory of the season.

UC outshot the Highlanders 57-18 and earned a 59-30 advantage in the ground ball category.  Utica also won 18-of-23 face-offs.  Phillips added a career-high nine ground balls and junior defender Tom Byrne (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) picked up five ground balls and three caused turnovers.


ELMIRA 22, Alfred State 3
The Elmira College men's lacrosse team ended the 2014 season on a high note, defeating visiting Alfred State University, 22-3. On a day where the eight members of the Class of 2014 were honored pre-game, it was only fitting that seven of the eight seniors registered points, including a game-high eight points from David Evert '14.
 
Evert led the Soaring Eagles with one goal and seven assists for his eight points, solidifying his place amongst the best to ever don an Elmira College men's lacrosse uniform in the process. After notching his seventh assist with 11:53 to play in the fourth quarter, the Niagara Falls, NY native became Elmira's all-time leader in assists with 92, as well as EC's third all-time leader in career points with 168. Additionally, that assist was also Evert's 29th of the season, giving him the most assists in single-season history, eclipsing the 28 assists that Mike Haddeland '00 had in the 1997-98 season.
 
Also reaching his own career milestone this afternoon was Brady Richards '14. Richards, who began his career as a goalie, put the exclamation point on his impressive final season with six goals and one assist for seven total points against the Pioneers. The seven points gave him 48 points in 2014 and brought his career point total to 100, becoming the 15th player in EC history to reach 100 points.
 
Joining Evert and Richards in the scoring column were fellow seniors Jackson Correia '14, Christian Archambeault '14, Dustin Gatt '14, Erik Bertsch '14, and Sam Gagne '14. The only senior not to record a point was defenseman Delroy Kern '14, however, Kern did impact the game in other ways, picking up two ground balls and causing one turnover.
 
Correia was just off the pace of Evert and Richards, scoring five goals and handing out one assist for six total points. Correia, who joined the 100-point club in EC's last game against Stevens Tech, also corralled seven ground balls and caused two turnovers in today's contest. Archambeault had five points on three goals and two assists, while Gatt was close behind with four points, scoring two goals and dishing out two assists. Bertsch and Gagne, two of EC's three long stick midfielders, got in on the offense, tallying two points each on the afternoon. Bertsch scored two goals, just his second and third of the season, while Gagne recorded two assists, his first two points of 2014. Bertsch was extremely strong in the faceoff circle, winning 20 of his 25 faceoff attempts, and also scooped up 16 ground balls, just one shy of an EC single-game record.
 
The Soaring Eagles scored early and often against Alfred State, scoring nine goals in the opening quarter. Correia kicked things off with EC's first score of the afternoon just 2:25 into the first quarter and the Purple and Gold never looked back. Quick strikes were a common theme in the first quarter as Elmira had two instances of goals being scored within eight seconds of each other. Gatt and Richards went back-to-back just eight seconds apart to put EC ahead 3-0 and then Correia and Bertsch followed a few minutes later with goals separated by just seven seconds to make it a 5-0 game.
 
Evert would score his only goal of the game with 5:42 to play in the first quarter to put EC ahead 6-0 and then resorted back to being the field general as he added his third assist of the opening quarter on an Archambeault goal just 35 seconds later. Richards closed out the first quarter scoring with his second of the afternoon 1:20 before the end of the first quarter.
 
After the nine-goal outburst in the first quarter, the Soaring Eagles let off the gas a bit in the second quarter, scoring just one goal as EC focused more on controlling possession. Correia made it 10 straight scores for Elmira but that would be it for Elmira scoring in the first half as the Soaring Eagles would take a 10-2 lead into the break after giving up a pair of Pioneer goals.
 
The final 30 minutes of play was dominated by the Purple and Gold, less the one additional goal Alfred State scored at the 10:40 mark of the third quarter. Richards scored three times in the third quarter with his final goal coming with 3:12 left on the clock. That goal, which was Richards' sixth of the afternoon, gave the senior his 100th career point and earned him a warm reception from his brother, Myles Richards '17, and the rest of his teammates. Evert assisted on three of the five goals EC scored in the third quarter, two scored by Richards and another scored by Gatt, leaving him just one assist shy of becoming Elmira's all-time leader.
 
That assist would come on EC's fourth goal of the fourth quarter and subsequently end Evert's day on the field. The Purple and Gold scored seven total goals in the final frame, two by Correia, one by Archambeault, and one by Bertsch, but some other faces got involved as well. Newcomer, Anthony LaRusso '17 scored two goals and assisted on another, while fellow rookie, PJ Tessier '17, in just his third game with the team, recorded an assist. Tessier's assist came on EC's final goal of the day, which featured career firsts on both the passing and the receiving end. Not only was Tessier's assist the first point of his career, the goal, which was scored by Carter Shinkaruk '16, was also the first point of Shinkaruk's career.  
 
With EC comfortably ahead 22-3 following Shinkaruk's goal, the Soaring Eagles would just pass the ball around the perimeter for nearly the entire 3:35 left in regulation as the Purple and Gold closed out their third win of the season.