MUSTANGS EDGE SAINTS, 8-7

NEWTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College Men's Lacrosse Team suffered its fifth one-goal loss of the 2013 season, when the Saints fell to the defending champion Mustangs of Mount Ida College, 8-7, on Wednesday night.  The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game was a back and forth battle that occurred in the rain on Mount Ida's Alumni Field.  With the win, the Mustangs improve to an overall record of 6-7, 5-1 GNAC, while Emmanuel drops to (4-8, 2-4 GNAC).

Freshman attack Kaile MacLean-Daley (Moretown, Vt.) got the visitors on the board first at the 12:57 mark of the first quarter, giving Emmanuel the lead 1-0 early on.  The hosts would respond two minutes later when freshman attack Michael Markevich (Westminster, Mass.) knotted the score at 1-1 on an assist from Zach Rosen (East Greenwich, R.I.).  Mount Ida took the lead from Emmanuel at the 9:26 mark when Michael Trocchi (Danvers, Mass.) tallied his first unassisted goal of the game, giving the Mustangs a 2-1 lead.  EC freshman Justin Kelly (Collegeville, Pa.) would score his only goal of the game with 7:10 left in the first, tying the score at 2-2 for the Saints after one quarter of play.

The Mustangs came out of the gate in the second, scoring the only three goals of the quarter.  Markevich's second tally of the night came from Rosen's second assist of the game, while JT Hoyt (Westfield, Mass.) and Nick Yacuzzi (Oakham, Mass.) both added unassisted tallies before the halftime whistle, giving the Mustangs some cushion at 5-2 at the break.

Freshman Ryan Sabuda (Indianapolis, Ind.) opened the third quarter with his only goal of the game off an assist by Jake Jaskolski (St. Claire's Shore, Mich.), inching the Saints closer at 5-3.  Jaskolski then notched his first score of the game just a minute later cutting the lead to 5-4 in favor of the Mustangs.  Trocchi added his second goal of the contest at the 12:12 mark on a man-up tally giving Mount Ida the 6-4 lead after three.

Jaskolski scored an unassisted goal for the Saints at the 14:18 mark, good for his second goal of the game, and once again moving Emmanuel within striking distance.  Five minutes later MacLean-Daley struck again for the visitors tying the game at 6-6 with a swing of momentum to the Saints.  Yacuzzi would regain the lead for the Mustangs with just 4:06 remaining in the game, giving the slight edge to Mount Ida at 7-6.  JT Hoyt added some insurance at the 3:04 mark on an unassisted goal that would give the Mustangs an 8-6 lead.

The visitors however were not done, as MacLean-Daley scored his third goal of the game, good for the hat trick, with just 0:18 seconds left in the contest.

The Mustangs would run out the remaining 0:18 seconds of play and notch the GNAC win by a final score of 8-7.

Junior keeper Craig Bray (New Canaan, Conn.) saw the entirety of the game in goal for the Mustangs, making five saves on twelve shots.  Austin Lauzier (Bedford, N.H.) played all sixty minutes for the visitors, notching thirteen saves on twenty-one shots.

Mount Ida will hit the road and visit GNAC opponent Anna Maria College on Saturday afternoon with game time slated for 12:00 PM.  The Saints will get back to work on Saturday as well, traveling to Becker College for a 1:00 PM game.

- Release courtesy of Mount Ida College Sports Information