MEN'S LACROSSE FALLS TO HILBERT, 10-6

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Junior midfielder Doug Takac (Emla, N.Y.) registered a game-high five points on a goal and four assists to lead the Hilbert College men's lacrosse team past Emmanuel College, 10-6, Wednesday morning in spring break action at the Ashley Booth Filed. With the win, the Hawks  improve to 1-2 on the year while the loss drops the Saints to 2-2.

EC was able to outscore Hilbert is both the second and fourth quarters but unfortunately for the Saints the first and third quarter deficit was too much to overcome.

The Hawks opened the scoring with a man-up goal by sophomore attackman Elliott Russillio (Lancaster, N.Y.) just 1:38 into the action. Minutes later, senior middie James Knapp (Lockport, N.Y.) made it 2-0 on an unassisted score. Emmanuel would cut the lead in half when freshman middie Chris Curtis (Ashland, Mass.) buried a shot with the help of an Jake Jaskolski (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) assist to make it 2-1.

Hilbert controlled the remainder of the action in the opening quarter as senior midfielder John Pingitore (West Seneca, N.Y.) and Takac netted goals just 49 seconds apart to give the Hawks a 4-1 lead heading into the second quarter.

The only goal in the second quarter would come at the 5:09 mark when Emmanuel junior attacker Brian O'Regan (Milton, Mass>) converted a feed from freshman Kaile MacLeadn-Daley (Moretown, Vt.) to make it 4-2 heading into the halftime intermission.

Hilbert sophomore midfielder Brendan Kane (Orchard Park, N.Y.) opened the second half scoring with a marker at 8:57 to  put the Hawks on top 5-2 before MacLean-Daley answered with his first score of the afternoon to keep the game within reach at 5-3.

Over the final five minutes of the quarter the Hawks would take control of the action, outscoring the Saints 4-1 during the span to take the 9-4 lead into the final quarter. Junior middie Nick Kieffer (Lee Center, N.Y.) started to run with a score to make it 6-3 before junior attacker Sean Purtill (Orchard Park, N.Y.) netted a man-up score to make it 7-3. Junior middie Shaughn Irving (Grand Island, N.Y.) gave the Hawks their largest lead of the day with his score with 4:03 remaining in the third to make it 8-3. MacLean-Daley would strike for the Saints, potting his second goal of the afternoon to make it 8-4 but sophomore middie Drew Ulbrich (Lancaster, N.Y.) capped the quarter's scoring with a goal with 1:48 left to make it 9-4 heading into the final quarter.

The Saints made it interesting, scoring two goals early in the action to cut the lead to 9-6 with over 11 minutes remaining as Jaskolski and Curtis each found the back of the net but despite numerous man-up situations, Emmanuel could not get any closer and a score by Hilbert's sophomore attackman Elliot Russillio (Lancaster, N.Y.) with 9:03 to play was more than enough for the Hawks to hold on for the 10-6 win.

Emmanuel outshot the Hawks 53-32 on the afternoon but only put 19 shots on frame in which 13 were stoppde by sophomore goalie William Wagner (Henrietta, N.Y.) for his first win of the year. Saints goalkeeper Austin Lauzier was brilliant in first half, stopping eight shots and finished the game with 10 saves.

The Saints will be back in action on Saturday, March 16 in Baltimore, Md. when they take on Keuka College at 4:00 PM on the campus of Hood College. Hilbert is idle until March 20 when they host Thiel College at 4:00 PM.