EARLY LEAD LIFTS MEN'S LACROSSE OVER MOUNT IDA, 13-5

NEWTON, Mass. – Emmanuel College  built up a 5-1 lead in the opening period to cruise to a win in their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse game against Mount Ida College, prevailing 13-5 over the Mustangs on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Emmanuel got four goals apiece from Chris Curtis (Ashland, Mass.) and Tony Cibelli (Westboro, Mass.) to pick up a win in their first conference game of the year and get back to 3-4 on the season.

Ida junior Lucas Stralka (East Greenwich, R.I.) scored three times for Mount Ida, who suffer their first conference defeat of the year (1-1) and fall to 1-3 overall.

It was the Cibelli show early on for Emmanuel, as he scored three of his goals in the first fifteen minutes after Stralka had opened the scoring at 12:08 into the first period. Over the next five minutes, Emmanuel scored four straight goals, starting with two by Cibelli, who ended the period with a strike with under a minute to go.

Along the way, Curtis opened his account, and freshman Jared Lucas (Gilford, N.H.) also found the back of the net against Mount Ida sophomore keeper Tyler McElreath (Upton, Mass.), who made 13 saves but dropped to 1-2 on the year.

Curtis scored again to open the second period, a frame in which he and Donnie Litzelman (Exter, N.H.) would sandwich Mustang goals by Peter Hardy (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and Stralka, giving the Saints a 7-3 advantage at the half.

The teams also exchanged goals twice in the third period, with Mount Ida sophomore Alex Veloukas (Salem, Mass.) and Stralka netting again, and Curtis and Litzelman finding the twine for Emmanuel, the latter of which did so with ten seconds left in the period.

Any hope of a Mount Ida comeback was snuffed out with a 4-0 fourth period by Emmanuel, in which Curtis picked up another goal and his second assist, the helper on the final goal of the game, Cibelli's fourth.

The Mustangs won 11 of 19 face-offs on the heels of freshman Alex Zito (Marlboro, Conn.), who went 10-16 at the dot, but took 14 penalties for 13:00 and conceded goals on four man-down situations to the Saints. Sophomore Chad Coehlo (Salem, Mass.) had a pair of helpers for the Mustangs.

Emmanuel got seven saves from senior Austin Lauzier (Bedford, N.H.), as he improved to 3-4 on the season, and saw Pat Heffernan (Pembroke, Mass.) grab a game-high five ground balls, while Jake Pickett (Stratham, N.H.) caused three turnovers and went 6-13 from the face-off spot. Junior Michael Rogers (New Haven, Conn.) added three assists in the win.

The Saints held a 44-23 edge in shots, including an 8-3 advantage in the first period and a 13-4 lead in the fourth quarter.

Players, coaches and even parents from the two teams worked together to clear the field of snow this morning in order to get the game off, with just a half-hour delay.

Mount Ida is back on Alumni Field on Wednesday evening when they host UMass Boston at 6:30 pm in a non-conference game under the lights.

Emmanuel hosts Lasell on Tuesday at 7:00 pm in another big GNAC clash. 

*Release courtesy of Mount Ida College Sports Information Dept.