Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team had its season opening seven game winning streak stopped on Wednesday afternoon and suffered its first loss of the season with a 13-6 non-conference defeat at the hands of Vassar. Junior Joseph Rizzotti (East Meadow, N.Y.) led the offensive attack with four points for the Knights.
 
The two teams alternated the first six goals of the game, before Mount Saint Mary jumped in front 4-3 on a Rizzotti tally with just shy of 11 minutes left before halftime. The goal was his 13^th of the season and gave the Knights their only lead of the game.
 
Following the Rizzotti tally, the visitors scored the final four goals of the second period to carry a 7-4 advantage into the intermission. Noah Parson scored twice in the second stanza for Vassar and joined Chris Billups with a man-up goal in the period.
 
Vassar outshot Mount Saint Mary 25-19 over the opening 30 minutes, while the Mount held a slim 19-18 advantage in groundballs. The Brewers were a perfect 2-for-2 with the man advantage in the first half on Wednesday.
 
The Brewers continued their scoring run coming out of halftime, scoring the only goal of the third quarter and the first two of the fourth frame to open a 10-4 lead with 12:36 left in the tilt. Rizzotti stopped the run by Vassar with his second of the game with 12:11 left to play.
 
Mount Saint Mary was outscored after halftime 6-2 on Wednesday with Kenneth Gallagher (Northport, N.Y.) adding a fourth quarter goal for the Knights with just over four minutes left in regulation time.
 
Rizzotti added two assists to his two goals and picked up four groundballs. Tristan Earle (Millrift, Pa.) scored a goal and assisted on two others for the Mount, while Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) and Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) each scored a goal.
 
Peter Beidl (Clifton Park, N.Y.) and De Meo joined Rizzotti with four groundballs in the game, with De Meo pacing the team with two caused turnovers.
 
Vassar was led by four goals and five points from Parson with J.T. Thomas picking up four assists. Brandon DeStasio and Steven Mages picked up five groundballs each, with Thomas and Gianni Gelormino causing a pair of turnovers.
 
Doerr finished up the day with 15 stops for the Knights, making eight stops prior to halftime and adding three groundballs. Brandon Crecco picked up the win for Vassar with 16 stops.
 
Overall, Mount Saint Mary was outshot 44-35 and saw Vassar hold the edge in groundballs 36-32. Vassar went 5-for-7 with the man advantage, while the Knights won 15 of the 21 face-offs taken. Brendan Nestola (Merrick, N.Y.) won 15 draws for the Mount and picked up a pair of groundballs.
 
At 7-1 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary will return to action on March 29 at Cazenovia. Face-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

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