Box Score

READING, Pa. – The Mount Saint Mary College men's lacrosse team (0-1) opened its season on Saturday with a hard-fought battle at Alvernia University (1-1). The Knights tied the game at 10 with about five minutes to play, but two late Crusader goals were the difference as Alvernia grabbed a 12-10 victory in non-conference action.

After falling behind 4-0 in the first six minutes of the game, the Knights chipped away at the deficit, coming out of the first quarter down 4-3. Alvernia grabbed the first two goals of the second quarter to go up by three. Junior midfielder Jake Robison (Franklin Square, N.Y.) then scored his first goal of the game to cut the deficit back to two, but the Crusaders added one more before halftime to take a 7-4 lead into the break.

Benjamin Manning notched the first goal of the second half for the Crusaders, but the Knights turned it on beginning with senior attacker Matt O'Donnell's (Wallkill, N.Y.) netter just 21 seconds later. This sparked a 4-0 stretch for the Knights, capped off by back-to-back goals in the final 68 seconds of the third quarter by freshman attacker Joseph Rizzotti (East Meadow, N.Y.) to the tie game at eight goals apiece.

Each team tallied a goal early in the fourth, leaving the game tied at 9-9 with 9:27 to play. Manning threw his third goal of the game into the net to give the home team a 10-9 lead, but the Knights answered with Rizzotti's third less than a minute later to tie it at 10 with 5:32 to play. Alvernia's Rick Reid came up clutch for the Crusaders, scoring his second and third goals of the fourth quarter at the 4:15 and 3:37 mark to put the Knights away late.

Alvernia's Reid, Manning and Jared Toll each notched three goals and an assist for four-point efforts. Colin Gallagher also scored a pair of goals and led the Crusaders with five groundballs. Brandon Weaver picked up the win, making 13 saves.

Rizzotti and Robison each picked up hat tricks in the Knights' season opener, adding an assist each. O'Donnell netted a pair, while senior midfielder Stephen White (Schenectady, N.Y.) and junior David Hobbs (Baldwin, N.Y.) each scored once. White went 13-for-23 in faceoffs, while Hobbs led the Knights with five groundballs. Junior Connor Haran (Massapequa, N.Y.) made six saves, but shouldered the loss after allowing 12 goals.

Both teams were even with 35 shots apiece, but the Knights managed to put more shots on net, shooting on target 23 times, while the Crusaders hit the net 18 times. The Knights won the faceoff battle, 14-11. Alvernia had six extra-man opportunities, but only scored on one, while the Knights had two and could not score on either one.

The Knights' next scheduled game at Bard College is currently postponed, so they will next play on Saturday, March 8, with a road contest at Gwynedd-Mercy College. The opening faceoff is set to take place at 1 p.m.

Follow the Knights on Twitter at @MSMCKnights and the men's lacrosse team at @MSMCLacrosse