Riverdale, N.Y. – Junior attack Greg Buck (Berlin, Conn.) scored a season-high seven goals to lead the Albertus Magnus College men's lacrosse team past Mount St. Vincent, 14-11, on Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action at Riverdale Country Day School. With their second straight win, the Falcons improved to 3-2 on the spring, while the Dolphins dropped to 1-8 with their sixth loss in a row.
Buck led the Falcon charge with his seven markers to go along with one assist, one ground ball and two caused turnovers. Junior midfielder Justin Bennet (Fairfield, Conn.) had another quality game for the guests, scoring four tallies and adding three helpers. Bennet and sophomore midfielder Tommy Gillen (Port Jervis, N.Y.) each won five face-offs apiece for AMC as well. Sophomore attack Brennan Moore (Meriden, Conn.) rounded out the goal scorers for Albertus Magnus, netting three and adding a pair of assists.
Defensively, senior Adam Earl (Hamden, Conn.) continued his strong play with five caused turnovers and team-leading six ground balls. Junior midfielder Matt Mueller (Cheshire, Conn.) also scooped six ground balls and sophomore Paul Mirmina (Milford, Conn.) registered three caused turnovers.
It was a two-headed attack for CMSV as Joshua James and Michael Puchalski both netted three goals apiece. Also chipping in offensively for the hosts were Michael McEnaney and Germain Ngaba both netted two goals apiece. Ngaba had a game-high 10 ground balls, while James Fitzgerald contributed seven caused turnovers on defense.
Over the first nine minutes of action, the two non-conference foes traded goals and a marker from Dolphin Brandon Brown tied the game at two with 6:05 left in the first quarter. AMC answered with three unanswered strikes to end the frame to lead, 5-2, after 15 minutes.
Bennet scored his second goal in a row to help the visitors build their lead to four at 6-2 four and a half minutes into the second quarter. Puchalski would then pull the hosts to within three at 6-3 just 20 seconds after Bennet's strike. Once again the Falcons responded with a three-goal spurt to take a 9-3 advantage into halftime. During the run, Buck scored all three AMC tallies.
Mount Saint Vincent opened the second half with four unanswered goals in the third quarter to make it a two-goal game at 9-7 with 6:49 left in the frame. A little over 30 seconds after the Dolphins pulled close, Moore scored his third of the day to give the hosts a three-goal leading heading into the final stanza.
Back-and-forth the squads went in the fourth quarter, trading two goal runs throughout. With less than 90 seconds left in regulation, CMSV scored to pull within two at 13-11. The Falcons won the ensuing face-off and Bennet capped the scoring in the contest with his fourth of the game. Down the stretch, Albertus Magnus kept Mt. St. Vincent off the board to escape with the triumph.
In net, Albertus Magnus sophomore Jack Kerner (Merrick, N.Y.) made a career-high 25 saves to earn his third victory of the spring. On the opposite side, Arben Gashi turned aside 12 shots in a losing effort for the Dolphins.
The win gives the men's lacrosse team a record above .500 for the first time in program history. The victory was also the first of the season for AMC outside of New Haven.
Albertus Magnus returns to action on Saturday, April 2, with a home Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) clash versus Norwich at 2:30 pm. The tilt between the Falcons and the Cadets will serve as the league opener for both teams.
For the latest information on the men's lacrosse team and Albertus Magnus athletics, follow AMCAthletics on Twitter and visit AlbertusFalcons.com.
