Naz Takes Over First Place; Alfred and Ithaca in Second

Naz Takes Over First Place; Alfred and Ithaca in Second

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NAZARETH 9, Ithaca 6
Host Nazareth scored five unanswered goals in the fourth quarter Saturday to overtake Ithaca in an Empire 8 Conference men's lacrosse showdown. The Golden Flyers rallied from a 6-4 deficit to claim a 9-6 victory over the Bombers to take over sole possession of first place in the conference standings.

The Golden Flyers, ranked 19th nationally in Division III, remain the only unbeaten team in the Empire 8 at 5-0. They are 10-3 overall. Ithaca, ranked 14th nationally, dropped to 4-1 in the E8 and 9-4 overall.

After scoring four goals in the first quarter, Nazareth went nearly 35 minutes without scoring before erupting for the five goals in the fourth quarter. Nazareth's attack trio of senior Will Fallo and juniors Troy Haefele and Luke Wooters accounted for all five goals as the Golden Flyers dominated the final 15 minutes. Senior Drew Simoneau won five of the six faceoffs in the fourth quarter and Nazareth had advantages in shots (13-4) and ground balls (13-3).

Nazareth trailed 6-4 entering the fourth quarter after Bombers' long-stick defender Eli Gobrecht accounted for the lone goal in the third quarter as he caused a turnover, scooped up the ground ball and raced the length of the field to score unassisted.

Nazareth then took over as Wooters scored his second of three goals on the day just one minute into the quarter off an assist from Haefele. The next two goals came on man-up situations as Wooters scored unassisted after an interference infraction against Ithaca's Grant Osadchey. Then after Osadchey was whistled for slashing, Haefele scored off a pass from Joe Eiskant.

That gave Nazareth the lead for good at 7-6. Fallo and Haefele added insurance goals to preserve the victory. In addition, Nazareth goalie Michael Cuciti made three of his nine saves in the fourth quarter.

The rest of the scoring was done in the first quarter as the teams combined for nine goals. Eiskant, junior Matt O'Neill and freshman Jacob Gray each scored unassisted goals for Nazareth in the first and Wooters delivered the other goal on an outside blast off an assist from Luke Longo.

Jack Shumway scored two goals for Ithaca in the first quarter, including one off a pass from Jake Cotton with :22 left in the period to give the Bombers a 5-4 advantage. The score stayed that way until Gobrecht's goal in the third, which set the stage for Nazareth's fourth quarter scoring spree.

Nazareth had overall advantages in shots (34-25) and ground balls (32-26) and went 13 for 17 on clears. Simoneau won 13 of 19 draws overall and scooped up nine ground balls. Nazareth was solid defensively with the long-stick trio of Jerry Chasteen, Vincent Parrillo and A.J. Small combining for eight ground balls and three caused turnovers. Junior Scott Sidnam had 11 saves in goal for Ithaca.


ALFRED 9, Utica 8
The Alfred University men's lacrosse team (11-1, E8 4-1) grinded out a 9-8 win over Empire 8 foe, Utica College, tallying their fourth win in a row.
 
Senior attack Nicolas Wood (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) and freshman attack Jake Lynch (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) score a hat trick each to pace the scoring for the Saxons.  Sophomore midfielder Derek Bishopp (Livonia, NY/Livonia) and sophomore midfielder John Winchell (Vestal, NY/Vestal) scored two goals and one goal, respectively.
 
Winchell and junior midfielder Tanner Morse (Corning, NY/Corning East) were the frontrunners in assists for AU in the contest.  Sophomore midfielder Matt Zandri(Baldwinville, NY/Baldwinsville) added a helper in the game as well.
 
The Saxons jumped out to an early lead when Winchell found Lynch for a goal only 52 seconds into the game.  Three minutes later the Pioneers knotted the game up at one when Codey Staulters added a goal of his own from Patrick Mulligan.  Utica would score another goal five minutes later to the take the lead. 
 
With 3:14 to go in the first quarter Zandri hooked up with Wood to tie the game.  Less than a minute later teammates Morse and Bishopp grabbed the lead with a pass, shoot, and score of their own.
 
Once again it was Lynch scoring in the opening seconds of the quarter, increasing the AU advantage 4-2 only 44 seconds into the quarter.  The Pioneers gained some ground back with a goal with 8:55 to go in the half.  Neither team would score heading into the locker rooms.  Heading into the intermission AU held a tight, 4-3, lead on the Pioneers.
 
Only 3:15 into the second half Winchell beat the Utica goalie to earn his 17th goal of the season.  However, the Pioneers knotted the game up with back-to-back goals in less than 30 seconds with 5:44 to go in the quarter.  Each team would score one more goal to lock the game at six goals each heading into the final quarter.
 
Defense was key in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, with neither team giving a goal in the first five minutes.  However, Lynch broke the tie on a man-up goal after receiving a pass from Morse to complete his hat trick.  Bishopp scored four minutes later to increase the margin to two goals with 5:29 left in the game.  Wood added one more crucial insurance goal with 4:51 on the clock to put the Saxons up 9-6.
 
With time running out the Pioneers put forth a final assault to get back into the game.  Utica's Matthew Miller and Mulligan scored goals at the 3:03 and 50 second marks, respectively.  However, the Saxons defense was able to stifle the surging Pioneers long enough to maintain a lead to the final horn.  In the end the Saxons came out on top, 9-8.
 
Sophomore midfielder Jimmy Pratti (Minisink, NY/Minisink Valley) won 12-of-21 faceoffs for AU while grabbing a team-high five ground balls.  Sophomore defenseman Chris Deisenroth (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) and junior defenseman Max Wilson (Menlo Park, CA/Menlo-Atherton) had four groundballs, each.  Wilson also tallied a team-high three caused turnovers.  Sophomore defense Nate Bellis (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) and junior midfield Nolan Jessop (Churchville, NY/Churchville Chili) had two caused turnovers, each.
 
Freshman goalie Drew Gardner (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) was in goal for the Saxons, making 10 saves in the game.  Andrew DiOrio was in goal for the Pioneers, making 15 stops.


HARTWICK 14, Elmira 9
Hartwick's men's lacrosse team won for the second time in four days on Saturday with a 14-9 win over the Elmira College Soaring Eagles in a game played at Campus Field. The victory is the Hawks' first in the Empire 8 Conference this season.
           
Evan Petillo (Holbrook, NY/Sachem North), David Bianculli(Charlton, MA/Shepard Hill Regional), and Conner Long(Hardwick, NJ/Blair Academy) each scored three times to lead Hartwick. Matt McCallan (Bay Shore, NY/West Islip) contributed two goals and an assist.
           
Elmira would take an early 2-0 lead in the first quarter of play only to have the Hawks double them up in scoring the rest of the way, 14-7. Fifty-one seconds after EC's second goal, Bianculli tallied from Dylan Malloy (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) to get the Hawks on the scoreboard.
           
Jacob Sasche (Baltimore, MD/Boys' Latin School of MD) tied it at 8:32 and Long tallied off an Adam Goss(Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) feed 49 seconds later for a 3-2 Hartwick edge. The Soaring Eagles evened the score at 3-3 with 4:24 remaining in the period.
           
Fifty-seven seconds into the second quarter, EC jumped in front again, 4-3. It would be their final lead of the day as the Hawks would score the last three goals of the half for a 6-4 advantage. Petillo scored from McCallan followed by goals from Long and Goss with Sean Brown (Pleasantville, NY/Pleasantville) assisting on both.
           
The two teams traded goals throughout the third quarter with Elmira only getting as close as two. Petillo scored twice, including the final goal of the quarter with one second left for 'Wick. McCallan and Long also found the net for the Hawks.
           
Hartwick broke the game open in the fourth period as it scored four consecutive goals to pull away. Simmons got things going with a goal at 14:04. He then set up Bianculli for Hartwick's twelfth goal of the game. McCallan added an unassisted tally and Bianculli scored off a Brown pass for the Hawks' final goal and a 14-7 lead. EC tacked on two goals with under a minute left to get a little closer.
           
The Hawks registered 44 shots in the game to the Soaring Eagles' 27. They also had more ground balls (42-37) and won 16-of-26 face-offs.
           
Kyle Kickel (West Islip, NY/West Islip) had the game-high in ground balls for the second straight game with eight.Connor Hudson (Moriches, NY/William Floyd), who won 15 times inside the face-off circle, added seven ground balls. Kevin Wahl (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) had six ground balls, Kevin Rourke (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach) added five, and McCallan notched four.
           
Keeper Mike Rourke (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach) made 10 saves in the Hartwick cage.
           
Elmira was led by T.J. Leach and Skyler Pradelski who each scored three goals. Wyatt Katsos stopped 16 Hartwick shots in the EC goal.


STEVENS 24, Houghton 3
Six different players scored multiple goals for the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team Saturday in a 24-3 Empire 8 Conference rout over Houghton College.
 
The win moved Stevens to 7-5 (3-1) while Houghton fell to 1-9 (0-5)
 
Freshman Luke Castellano scored a career-high three goals to go along with an assist and three ground balls, while freshman JP Southren added three scores of his own. Junior Andrew Scruthfield and freshmen Bryan Rogers, Chris Gaydosand Alex Gaydos each chipped in with two goals.
 
Sophomore Kevin Rafferty recorded the Ducks only two saves.
 
As a team, the Ducks out-shot Houghton 62-14 and dominated on the turf with 44 groundballs to the Highlander's 11. Stevens also dominated in face-offs by a 28-3 margin.
 
Scruthfield, Alex Gaydos and junior Connor O'Shea got the Ducks scoring started, each scoring a goal in the opening four minutes. Houghton answered with one during the nine minute mark, but a 4-0 Stevens run over the next three minutes put the Ducks up 7-1 with five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
 
The Ducks extended the lead to 9-2 to close out the first before a score from sophomore Kevin Atwell in the second quarter's opening minute ballooned the lead to eight. Sophomore Ryan Giordano continued the run off a pass from freshman Tommy Dawson two minutes later followed by a trio of Stevens goals over the next four minutes.
 
Stevens took a 15-3 lead into the break before Alex Gaydos started the second half scoring off a feed from Castellano. Southern took the lead to 17-3 less than 30 seconds later followed by a score from Chris Gaydosduring the 12 minute mark.
 
Stevens scored three more during the third before Rogers capped the Ducks scoring with an unassisted goal seven minutes into the fourth. The Highlanders were unable to mount any sort of resistance the rest of the way as the Ducks cruised in the fourth quarter en route to the win.


ST. JOHN FISHER 8, Geneseo 6
The St. John Fisher College men's lacrosse team scored two goals in the final five minutes of the game to earn an 8-6 home victory on Saturday over SUNY Geneseo.

With the win, Fisher improves to 7-5 overall while Geneseo falls to 4-7 on the season.

After the Knights scored three unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 6 apiece, Fisher used a man-up goal from Joe Gaug to reclaim the advantage 7-6.  Andrew Rosso was credited with the assist.

Rosso helped seal the victory for Fisher with under one minute to play off an assist from Matt Colicchia, his third helper of the day.

The first half was a low scoring affair with Fisher adding two goals in the first quarter and one in the second.  Dante Giordano started things off at the 10:47 mark from Colicchia. Colicchia added a goal of his own five minutes later to push Fisher's lead to 2-0.

The Cardinals took a 3-1 lead into the break following a screamer from Nick Rossi.

Geneseo put the pressure on to start the second half notching two goals a minute apart to even the score at 3.

Fisher, however, responded with three goals in a span of 2:02 to take a 6-3 advantage.  Rosso took a pass from Colicchia at the midway point of the third quarter to push the Cardinals back in front, 4-3.  Colicchia came up big shortly after, scoring a man-down goal for Fisher.   Rossi capped the run with his second goal of the day to give Fisher a 6-3 lead.

Tanner Swan earned the win in net for Fisher making 11 saves on the day.

Colicchia registered a career-high five points on two goals and three helpers.  He also added a team-high six assists.  Rosso and Rossi added two goals apiece.


SCHOOL CONF OVERALL
Nazareth 5-0 10-3
Alfred 4-1 11-1
Ithaca 4-1 9-4
Stevens 3-1 7-5
St. John Fisher 2-2 7-5
Utica 1-3 6-6
Elmira 1-4 2-7
Hartwick 1-4 2-7
Houghton 0-5 1-9