Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team opened Skyline Conference play on Friday night with a hard fought 10-9 home loss to visiting Farmingdale State. Sophomore Dylan De Meo (Franklin square, N.Y.) totaled six points in the game, including the 100^th of his career.
 
Farmingdale ran out to a 3-1 lead after 15 minutes on Friday and built its advantage to 7-3 with four more goals in the second stanza. The Rams scored seven straight goals after De Meo opened the scoring in the game with just under six minutes left in the opening period.
 
Trailing 7-1 with 5:29 left before halftime, Mount Saint Mary got back-to-back goals for the first time in the game when De Meo and Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) scored in the final four minutes of the half to being the Knights to within four heading into halftime.
 
Farmingdale State carried the play in the opening 30 minutes, holding a 27-15 edge in shots after the break and 23-16 advantage in groundballs. The Knights turned the ball over 16 times prior to the break, with Farmingdale State committing just five miscues.
 
Tristan Earle (Millrift, Pa.) brought the Mount to within two goals coming out of halftime and after two goals from the Rams' Tyler Rifice, the Knights ran off five straight goals to knot the score at 9-9 with 8:24 left in regulation. The Knights outscored the Rams 5-2 in the third period, getting a goal and two assists from De Meo.
 
With the game even at 9-9, Farmingdale State potted the eventual game winning goal with 6:03 left in the game when Michael Cegielski finished off a feed from James Reiser. The Knights had possession in the final minute, but could not beat Farmingdale State goalie Thomas Fallon in the closing seconds.
 
De Meo became the fourth player in program history to reach the 100 point plateau after scoring three times and assisting on three other goals. Earle and Kugler each scored twice in the game and Rizzotti finished with a goal and two assists.
 
Kyle Russo (Commack, N.Y.) picked up five groundballs in the loss for Mount Saint Mary and caused a team-high three turnovers. Brendan Nestola (Merrick, N.Y.) finished up the game with 11 face-off wins and three groundballs.
 
Farmingdale State was led by five points each from Cegielski and Rifice, with Ryan Corbett and Nick Capone leading the way with six groundballs each. Capone and Dylan Bates finished up the night with three caused turnovers each.
 
Sophomore Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.) rounded out the night with a season-high 19 saves and matched the team-high with five groundballs. He has reached double-figures in saves for the Knights in each of the last four outings. Fallon closed the night with 12 saves in the win for the Rams.
 
For the game, Farmingdale State held a 48-37 advantage in shots and a 29-21 edge in shots on goal. The Rams finished with a 38-33 advantage in groundballs, while the Knights won 11 of the 19 face-offs taken.
 
At 8-2 overall, Mount Saint Mary will return to action on April 9 when they travel to Riverdale, N.Y. to take on league rival Mount Saint Vincent. Face-off with the Dolphins is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

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