NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College men's lacrosse team fell just short of a second-half comeback in its 2021 season opener against Anna Maria College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday, March 20, at Celentano Field.

THE BASICS
FINAL: Anna Maria 10 | Albertus Magnus 8
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (0-1, 0-1 GNAC) | Anna Maria (1-1, 1-0 GNAC)
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED
Anna Maria controlled the action early, scoring the first four goals of the game. The Falcons broke onto the scoreboard at the 11:49 mark of the second quarter with a Cody Walczak (Higganun, Conn.) strike off an assist from Charles Stewart (Stratford, Conn.). The goal was the first of Walczak's career.

Both teams scored two goals for the remainder of the second quarter, with Stewart and Kader Price (Walden, N.Y.) each finding the back of the net. Price, a rookie attackman, tallied his first career goal in his first game. Price's goal set the score at 6-3 in favor of the AMCATS heading into the halftime break.

Albertus picked up play to start the second half, scoring two goals over the first six minutes to cut its deficit to 6-5 with 9:22 left in the third. Both Jayme Toro (East Haven, Conn.) and Zaheim Wilkins (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) found unassisted strikes in the stretch, the first of multiple for the midfielders.

Following back-to-back Anna Maria scores, Wilkins found the back of the net again to send the Falcons into the fourth, holding a slim 8-6 deficit. Wilkins dodged one defender and ripped a strike from just inside the 20-yard line past the opposing keeper.

Albertus drew the deficit to 8-7 with a man-up goal from Toro at the 10:48 mark. After another AMCATS score, Wilkins tallied his third goal of the afternoon with 8:13 left. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Anna Maria sealed the contest at the 2:58 mark with Tommy Girard's goal, which set the final score at 10-8 AMCATS.

In between the pipes for Albertus, junior Dane Walsh (Bethany, Conn.) tallied a career-high 18 saves to keep the Falcons in the highly-competitive contest.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Albertus - Dane Walsh (L,0-1): Shots on Goal 28 | Goals-Against 10 | Saves 18
Anna Maria - Griffin Moore (W, 1-0): Shots on Goal 23 | Goals-Against 8 | Saves 15

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Both the Falcons and the AMCATS recorded 43 shots apiece in the contest.
• The AMCATS recorded 28 shots on goal compared to the Falcons' 23.
• Albertus controlled the ground game, scooping up 39 ground balls to Anna Maria's 36.
• The Falcons won 19 of the 22 faceoffs in the game.

Albertus:
Zaheim Wilkins: 3 goals, 15 shots, 11 shots on goal
Jayme Toro: 2 goals, 1 assist, 8 shots, 2 shots on goal, 16 ground balls
Charles Stewart: 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 shots, 3 shots on goal

Anna Maria
Ethan Quinn: 3 goals, 8 shots, 6 shots on goal,
Aiden Foster: 2 goals, 5 shots, 3 shots on goal
Tommy Girard: 1 goal, 3 assists, 9 shots, 5 shots on goal, 2 ground balls

NOTEWORTHY
• This is the seventh all-time meeting between the two teams. Anna Maria holds the edge with a 4-3 record.
• Price and Walczak each scored their first career goals in the contest.
• Walsh recorded his 100th-career save in the loss, with a career-high 18 stops.
• Wilkins recorded his first career hat trick with three goals on 15 shots.
• Toro won a whopping 90.4 percent of his faceoffs, going 19-for-21 at the X.