Newton, Mass. – The Albertus Magnus College men's lacrosse team fell on the road to Mount Ida, 25-4, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Wednesday evening at Alumni Field. With their fourth straight setback, the Falcons move to 4-9 on the year and 1-6 in conference play, while the host Mustangs improved to 8-8 overall and 3-4 in league contests with their second win in a row.
Sophomore attack Paul Mirmina (Milford, Conn.) scored three of the Falcon's four goals and classmate Brennan Moore (Meriden, Conn.) chipped in one marker and one helper. In the face-off cirlce, AMC junior midfielder Justin Bennet (Fairfield, Conn.) won 17-of-31 and added eight ground balls. On the defensive side, Adam Earl (Hamden, Conn.) had one caused turnover and a game-high 10 ground balls for the guests.
Seniors Lucas Stralka (E. Greenwich, R.I.) and Mike Markevich (Westminster, Mass.) both reached the 100-point career mark in the victory for Mount Ida. Stralka led the way with five goals and two assists and Markevich chipped in two markers of his own as the Mustangs put up their highest goal total since the 2009 season.
In the cage, junior Jack Kerner (Merrick, N.Y.) turned aside nine shots in 45 minutes of action in a losing effort for the visitors. In relief of Kerner, freshman goalkeeper John Brunetti (West Haven, Conn.) made eight saves in the fourth quarter.
The Mustangs scored the first three goals of the game and used runs of 9-0 and 7-0 to send the Falcons home with a loss.
Stralka opened the scoring and reached his milestone at 12:01 in the first period then assisted on the first goal of the night for Da'zhon Johnston (Southhampton, Bermuda) before Wyatt Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.) gave the Mustangs a 3-0 lead. Those three players would be key for the night, as Johnston registered a hat trick and Sullivan notched a six-point night with four goals and two assists.
Chad Coehlo (Salem Mass.) had five points on the night as well, four of them via assists, and sophomore Cam Hayward (Derry, N.H.) made seven saves before being lifted for Tommy Thompson (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), who made one save.
Mirmina put the Falcons on the board with 4:42 left in the first period, but Stralka completed his hat trick within the quarter and the Mustangs took a 12-1 lead before Mirmina struck again with 2:12 left in the half.
While Stralka and Markevich, who scored his 100th point with a goal at 5:54 of the second quarter, reached personal milestones, Alex Scata (Farmington, Conn.) and Alex Pereira (N. Attleboro, Mass.) each scored their first goals of the year, while Ryan Trinque (E. Greenwich, R.I.) scored twice to give him four this season, Eric Walker (Newington, Conn.) hit the five-goal mark with two tallies, and Kyle Ton (Norwich, Conn.) grabbed his second marker of the campaign.
Mount Ida held a 76-21 shot advantage and a 61-35 ground ball edge, led by eight ground balls by Alex Zito (Andover, Conn.), who was 9-19 at the face-off dot.
Albertus Magnus closes out the 2016 season with a road GNAC clash versus Emmanuel on Saturday, April 30, that gets underway at 3:00 pm. Last spring, the Saints topped the Falcons in New Haven.
For the latest information on the men's lacrosse team and Albertus Magnus athletics, follow AMCAthletics on Twitter and visit AlbertusFalcons.com.
