WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College men's lacrosse team closed out the 2023 regular season with an overall record of 8-8 following Tuesday's night Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) road setback to the Blue Jays of the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.). 

Freshman Cooper Strecker (Chester, Conn.) finished with a game-high two goals and one assist for three points. Bailey Kirwin (Barrie, Ontario) and Zaheim Wilkins (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) also tallied a goal for the blue-and-white, while Jon Olson (Bellmore, N.Y.) recorded an assist. 

Falcon keeper Dane Walsh (Bethany, Conn.) registered his fourth game with 20+ saves after collecting 22 between the pipes. 

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: USJ (CT) 20 | Albertus Magnus 4
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (8-8, 2-8 GNAC) | USJ (9-8, 5-5 GNAC)
BOX SCORE

KEY HIGHLIGHTS 

• The Blue Jays controlled the opening quarter as the hosts outshot the Falcons, 21-3, and held a six-point advantage heading into the second quarter, 7-1.
• Albertus' first goal of the game came at the 8:07 mark behind an unassisted tally from Strecker.
• USJ came out of the short intermission break scoring three straight goals to push its lead to nine, 10-1, before Strecker found the back of the net for the second time of the night with 10:30 left in the stanza.
• The Blue Jays, however, closed out the second quarter tallying three unanswered goals to take a commanding 13-2 lead at the half.
• Albertus saw the deficit grow to 15, 17-2, after USJ started off the third quarter with four straight goals.
• With 4:21 on the clock, Kirwin netted his 22nd goal of the season following a short, crisp pass from Strecker on a man-up opportunity. 
• Following a win in the face-off circle, Albertus set up its offense as Olson found Wilkins, who put one past the Blue Jay keeper for his 16th goal of the season just 22 seconds later.
• Trailing 17-4, Albertus was unable to find an opening between the pipes in the final 15 minutes of play despite nine shots, including six shots on goal, and fell to the Blue Jays by a final score of 20-4.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Albertus: Dane Walsh (L, 7-7) - 20 goals-against | 22 saves | 42 shots
USJ (CT): Trey McCann (W, 8-8) - 2 goals-against | 3 saves | 5 shots

TOP PERFORMANCES

Albertus:
Cooper Strecker: 2 goals | 3 shots
Bailey Kirwin: 1 goal | 6 shots | 4 ground balls
Zaheim Wilkins: 1 goal | 4 shots | 2 ground balls | 1 caused turnover
Jon Olson: 1 assist | 7 shots | 3 ground balls

USJ (CT):
Nick Pestrichello: 5 goals | 1 assists | 8 shots | 2 ground balls
Evan Baden: 3 goals | 4 assists | 10 shots | 3 ground balls

NOTEWORTHY

• Albertus' eight wins this season is a program record for the blue-and-white. 
• Strecker tied his season-high in goals with two.
• Tyler Landsiedel (Stamford, Conn.) led the defense with two caused turnovers.
• Matt Bouchard (Berlin, Conn.), Jack Ferrio (Fairfield, Conn.), Walsh, and Wilkins also tallied one caused turnover.
• Shane Kelly (Madison, Conn.) won three face-offs, while Will Capalbo (Fairfield, Conn.) collected one.
• Kirwin, Walsh, and Landsiedel finished with a team-high four ground balls.