Providence, R.I. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team extended its season opening winning streak to a program best three games on Saturday afternoon with a 15-9 road win at Johnson and Wales.
Tristan Earle (Millrift, Pa.),
Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) and
Joseph Rizzotti (East Meadow, N.Y.) all posted five points in the game for the Mount.
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After the Knights and Wildcats alternated the first eight goals of the game, Mount Saint Mary went on to open a 7-5 halftime lead after outscoring Johnson and Wales 3-1 in the second stanza. After falling behind 5-4 early in the second period, Rizzotti knotted the score at 5-5 at the 12:19 mark of the period and Sebastian Cina, Jr. (Colts Neck, N.J.) gave the Mount the lead for good with just shy of seven minutes left before halftime.
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The three goal second quarter started a string of six straight goals for the Mount that saw it open a 10-5 advantage following a
Vincent Escudero (Bridgewater, N.J.) tally just past the midway point of the third period.
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Johnson and Wales would put together consecutive goals for the only time in the game over a two minute stretch late in the third quarter to climb to within 10-7, but the Knights allowed just one fourth quarter tally to secure its first road win of the 2016 season.
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Following an Eric Russo goal that brought the Wildcats to within 12-9,
Michael Romanik (Hicksville, N.Y.), Earle and Rizzotti scored inside a four minute stretch to spread the Mount's lead to the final six goal advantage.
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Mount Saint Mary featured seven different goal scorers in the game, led by four tallies from Rizzotti who chipped in with an assist and four groundballs. Earle scored twice and helped on two others to go along with three groundballs and De Meo assisted on five goals.
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Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) tallied three times for the Knights in the game and
Kenneth Gallagher (Northport, N.Y.) rounded out a solid day with two goals and an assist.
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Peter Beidl (Clifton Park, N.Y.), Rizzotti and
Michael Capetola (Egg Harbor Twp., N.J.) led the team with four groundballs, with Beidl and
Kyle Russo (Commack, N.Y.) each causing a pair of turnovers.
Brendan Nestola (Merrick, N.Y.) closed the day 11-for-26 in face-offs, adding two groundballs.
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Johnson and Wales was paced by three goals and two assists from Max Stone, while Carter Lyle scored three times. Ben Farrell led all players with seven groundballs and Hunter Guzzo won 16 face-offs.
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Mount Saint Mary goalie
Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.) picked up the win in the cage, his third of the season, after making eight stops. J.C. Guido made nine saves for Johnson and Wales on the day.
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Overall in the game, Mount Saint Mary outshot Johnson and Wales 39-28, while the Wildcats won the groundball battle 32-30. Mount Saint Mary had another strong outing with the man advantage, going 6-for-7 in man-up situations.
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At 3-0 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary will return home on March 12 when it plays host to Cobleskill. Face-off at Kaplan Field is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
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