NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College men's lacrosse team (1-0) got its season started off on the right foot, as the Knights defeated Mitchell College (0-1) in non-conference action by a score of 12-4 Wednesday evening at Kaplan Field. This was just the second time in the program's six years that the Knights have won their season opener.
Freshman midfielder
Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) and freshman attackman
Kenneth Gallagher (Northport, N.Y.) opened their rookie seasons with a bang, as each of them tallied a hat trick to help lead the Knights to the opening-day win. Kugler added an assist for four points on the evening. Sophomore attackman
Joseph Rizzotti (East Meadow, N.Y.) tallied a game-high five points on three helpers and a pair of scores.
Mitchell's Dan GiGioia kicked things off with a goal at the 9:20 mark of the first quarter to get the Mariners on the board first. Freshman attackman
Tristan Earle (Milford, Pa.) tied the game with a man-up goal with 5:07 to play in the first.
Rizzotti scored in the second minute of the second quarter on another extra-man opportunity for the Knights. Gallagher scored the Knights' third straight man-up goal just three minutes later to put the home team up, 3-1. Freshman midfielder
Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) then scored the Knights' first even-strength goal with nine minutes left in the half to improve the lead to three goals. Jordan Cook scored a man-up goal for the Mariners to cut the deficit to two, but Kugler scored his first of the season on a snipe from 20 yards out with just two seconds left to send the Knights into the locker room with a 5-2 advantage.
Mitchell scored two of the first three goals after halftime, but the Rizzotti, Gallagher and Kugler all managed to score in the third quarter to keep the Knights up, 8-4, with 15 minutes to play. Gallagher and Kugler's goals kicked off a 6-0 run by the Knights, including another goal by each one to start the fourth. De Meo found the back of the net for the second time with 6:30 to play, and senior midfielder
Jake Robison (Franklin Square, N.Y) capped of the scoring with 4:07 to play on a man-up goal to put the Knights up by eight.
Freshman goalkeeper
Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.) earned his first collegiate victory on Wednesday, stopping 4-of-8 shots in the process. Mitchell's JK LeMay made 15 saves, but yielded 12 scores to shoulder the loss.
Robison finished off the day with three point after adding a pair of assists to go with his goal. Earle picked up a goal and an assist in his first collegiate game. Senior midfielder
David Hobbs (Baldwin, N.Y.) dished out an assist as well to help in the victory.
Kugler, Rizzotti and De Meo shared the team lead with three caused turnovers on the evening. De Meo snatched up a game-high eight ground balls, while Kugler and Gallagher each scooped up six. Junior midfielder
Brendan Nestola (Merrick, N.Y.) went 11-of-17 from the faceoff X.
DiGioia scored twice to lead the Mariners on Wednesday. Joshua Muckle, who went 8-of-19 on faceoffs, also scored in the game. Brian Jordan caused three turnovers and matched LeMay with six groundballs to lead the team.
The Knights' offense looked sharp in their first game of 2015, firing off 52 shots and putting 27 on goal. The defense held the Mariners to just 11 attempts, eight of which were on target. The Knights also went a perfect 18-of-18 on clear attempts, while their guests converted just 13-of-27.
With a win in the books, the Knights look to keep the momentum rolling into their next contest. They travel up to Oneonta, N.Y. on Saturday, Feb. 28, to take on Hartwick College in a non-conference matchup. The opening faceoff is slated for 1 p.m.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
@MSMCKnights and the men's lacrosse team at
@MSMCLacrosse
