Written by Jonny Stevens
The Albertus Magnus men's lacrosse team lost to the Norwich Cadets 17-11 Saturday afternoon at Celentano Field in New Haven Conn. despite a stellar effort from freshman Greg Buck (Berlin, Conn.) who scored eight goals. The Falcons fall to 1-3 on the season and 0-2 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play while the Cadets improve to 1-5 on the season and 1-1 in the GNAC.
The game started off very possessive in the first quarter, both teams really waiting for their opportunity to attack the net. The defense for the Falcons was very patient, closely containing the attack of Norwich University. With 9:08 left in the first quarter, the Falcons struck first as Buck scored his first of the night. Mike Choiniere (Bethany, Conn.) added another just a minute later to give the Falcons an early 2-0 lead.
Despite the score being 2-1 to end the first quarter, the Cadets dominated the possession for most of the quarter, they were quick to cause turnovers and lead the Falcons 11-3 in ground balls after one.
After a Buck goal just 35 seconds into play, the Cadets went on a 6-0 scoring run led by Mike Lavery, Ian Mendoza, and Seth Fuller each scoring two goals. Cadets held the Falcons scoreless for the rest of the second quarter and the score was 7-3 after two.
Brandon Scicchitano (Norwalk, Conn.) made an amazing save in the third quarter after junior attacker took a shot at an empty net. Scicchitano dove back across the face of goal and got his body on the shot, parrying it wide. The Cadet offence peppered the freshman goalkeeper with shots from all over the field shooting a total 60 shots in the game, 31 of them being on target. Schicchitano ended the contest with 14 saves.
The third quarter was much more even than the second as the Falcons had a response for every goal that was thrown in by the Cadets. Buck scored four more in the third quarter with help from teammates Adam Earl (Hamden, Conn.) and Brennan Moore (Meriden, Conn.) with goals of their own. Moore was also stellar passing the ball as he dished out five assists for the game.
The final score ended 17-11 in favor of the Cadets. The Cadets won 20 of 31 face offs and scored directly from multiple face offs won. The Cadets outshot the Falcons 60-26 and won on ground balls 40-16.
Buck has now scored 16 goals in his last two games giving him 17 goals on the season.
The Falcons host Anna Maria Wednesday afternoon at Celentano Field in New Haven, Conn. for their third GNAC contest of the season.