NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College men's lacrosse team suffered a hard-fought 10-7 loss to the University of Saint Joseph (CT) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Wednesday night at Celentano Field. The Falcons celebrated their Senior Night before the contest, honoring senior midfielder Mykel Stinson (Bridgeport, Conn.).

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: University of Saint Joseph 10 | Albertus Magnus 7
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (1-6, 0-5 GNAC) | University of Saint Joseph (5-4, 4-3 GNAC)
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED
After the Blue Jays scored the game's first goal two minutes into the first quarter, the Falcons went on a tear, netting the following three goals for a 3-1 lead. Zaheim Wilkins (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) got the Falcons on the board on a pass from Jon Olson (Bellmore, N.Y.) to tie the game at 1-all 11:16 mark. A minute later, Olson connected with Wilkins again to take the 2-1 advantage. The teams battled back and forth for the ball for the remainder of the quarter until the 2:30 mark when Olson struck again with a man-up goal on the assist from Charles Stewart (Stratford, Conn.). With a little over a minute remaining in the quarter and the Falcons holding onto their 3-1 lead, the Blue Jays struck again, netting a score to cut the deficit in half and send the teams into the second quarter Albertus up 3-2.

The second quarter started slowly for both teams, as neither side was able to gain an advantage. The teams dueled back and forth for the ball for the first 12-and-a-half minutes, with Albertus goalie Dane Walsh (Bethany, Conn.) tallying five saves and the Blue Jays' counterpart Trey McCann blocking three Albertus shots. The Blue Jays drew first blood in the second quarter, scoring a goal and tying the game at 3-all with just over two minutes remaining in the half. A minute later, Stinson found the back of the net to retake the lead for the Falcons, 4-3. With 18 seconds remaining in the half, the Blue Jays offense punched again, slipping one past Walsh to even the score at 4-4. The Blue Jays added another score seconds later to take the 5-4 lead heading into the half.

The second half started slowly for both teams, as neither was able to get any momentum going. With the clock ticking down, Albertus found itself in possession of the ball and hurtling up the field towards the opposing goal. A Kader Price (Walden, N.Y.) shot bounced off the crossbar and into the waiting stick of Stinson, who flicked a short pass to Jayme Toro (East Haven, Conn.). Toro didn't hesitate, firing the ball past McCann to tie the game at 5-all with just under seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Two minutes later, Price would again snag the ball, finding Olson near the net, who promptly whizzed the sphere past McCann to give Albertus the 6-5 lead. The teams battled for the remainder of the third quarter, but the end of the third came and went with no further scores.

The Blue Jays opened the fourth quarter with a quick goal a minute-and-a-half in to tie the game at 6-6. Two minutes later, they struck again to take the 7-6 lead. However, the Falcons were unperturbed, as Stinson retaliated with his own goal 30 seconds later to re-tie the game at 7-all. Despite the goal from the senior, the Falcons were unable to capitalize, as the Blue Jays took control of the game from there, scoring the final three goals to secure the 10-7 victory.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Albertus – Dane Walsh (L, 1-6): Goals-Against 10 | Saves 15 | Shots 25
USJ – Trey McCann (W, 5-4): Goals-Against 7 | Saves 15 | Shots 22

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• USJ held a 45-36 advantage in shots in the game.
• Both teams finished with 15 saves.
• Albertus picked up 38 ground balls to USJ's 33.
• The Falcons went 18-for-29 on clears, while the Blue Jays went 11-for-22.

Albertus:
Jon Olson: 2 goals, 2 assists, 4 shots on goal, 4 ground balls
Mykel Stinson: 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots on goal, 4 ground balls

USJ:
Nicholas Grant: 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots on goal, 3 ground balls
Matt Guerin: 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 shots on goal, 2 ground balls

NOTEWORTHY
• Stinson set a new career-high tonight with his 16th point of the season.
• Olson tallied his second two-goal game of the year.
• Wilkins has recorded five multi-goal games this season.