POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Though four freshmen combined to score all 12 Knight goals on Wednesday, the Mount Saint Mary College men's lacrosse team (3-5) was unable to defeat Vassar College (4-3) in the yearly matchup between the local rivals, falling to the Brewers, 17-12, at Weinberg Field.
Midfielder
Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) led the way with four goals, and added an assist for a five-point evening. Attackmen
Tristan Earle (Milford, Pa.) and
Kenneth Gallagher (Northport, N.Y.) each totaled four points on three goals and an assist. Midfielder
Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) joined in with two goals.
The Knights took a 3-1 lead in the first quarter with two goals from Gallagher and another by De Meo in the opening frame. Vassar opened the second with three straight goals to take a 4-3 advantage before Earle got on the board to tie the game again. Chris Billups scored his second straight for the Brewers a few moments later, but Kugler then responded to once again draw even. Sam Houston-Read scored one more for the home team before the halftime buzzer to give Vassar a 6-5 edge heading into the break.
The Knights flew out of the gates in the third quarter, scoring three straight to take an 8-6 lead. The Brewers fired right back with three of their own to go up, 9-8. Earle scored his third of the game to tie it up, but Houston-Read had another late-period score to give the Brewers a one-goal advantage heading into the final stanza.
The Brewers stuck with the hot hand, and Houston-Read scored two of the next three goals in the game to improve the home team's lead to 12-10. Matthew Altman pushed the Brewer lead to three before De Meo struck again to get the Knights back within two. Liam Moriarty scored at the 7:41 mark to put the Knights back down by three, but De Meo then tallied his fourth netter of the game to cut it back to two. Vassar then scored the final three goals of the contest to pick up the five-goal win.
Houston-Read had a very impressive game for the Brewers, totaling eight points on four goals and four assists. Moriarty had a hat trick and two helpers for five points, and was matched by Noah Parson who scored four times and assisted another.
Brandon Crecco earned the win for the Brewers in 23:53 between the pipes, making one save and allowing four goals. Freshman goalkeeper
Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.) stopped 10 shots, but allowed 17 goals to fall to 3-5 on the year.
Vassar nearly doubled the Knights in total shots on the evening with a 43-22 advantage. They also held a 36-24 edge in ground balls, and won 21-of-32 face-offs.
The Knights have a tough challenge ahead of them, as they next play 6-2 Stockton University on Saturday, March 28, to open Skyline Conference play. The opening face-off from Pomona, N.J. is set for 7 p.m.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
@MSMCKnights and the men's lacrosse team at
@MSMCLacrosse
