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Lexington, VA – Sophomore Griffen LeClaire (White Rock, British Columbia / Toronto, Hill Academy) and junior Cory Santor (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) registered two goals and one assist apiece while senior Nicholas Gibaldi (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point) came up with 12 saves in goal to carry the Wagner men's lacrosse team to a 7-6 victory at VMI.

In pulling out a game that featured four ties and four lead changes, the Seahawks improve to 2-4 on the season while the Keydets fall to 1-8.

After dropping two straight excruciating one-goal games, a 9-8 loss to Detroit (3/8) on a last-second goal, followed by an 11-10 decision to Vermont (3/15) in two overtimes, the Green & White found a way to dig out a one-goal win tonight. Wagner, which defeated Monmouth 7-6 on February 18 in a four-overtime thriller, is now 2-2 on the season in games decided by one goal.

This was a nip-and-tuck affair throughout as the biggest lead either team could mount was two when the Seahawks jumped out to an early 3-1 lead as this defensive-minded affair was tied 5-5 at halftime and 6-6 after three quarters. With 8:12 remaining in the game, Griffen LeClaire pocketed what would prove to be the game-winning goal after receiving a feed from Santor.

Wagner was trailing 6-5 with the clock winding down in the third quarter when sophomore Billy Battaglia (Madison, NJ/Madison) uncorked the game-tying goal with just seven seconds left in the period off an assist from sophomore Paul DeVita (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) that made it a 6-6 game entering the final stanza.

Santor and Griffen LeClaire tied for team-high honors with three points (two goals, one assist apiece). Redshirt-freshman Patrick McMenamin (Longport,, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) and DeVita both supplied two points as each came up with a pair of assists while William McMenamin and junior David DeCirce (Clarence, NY/Clarence) contributed one goal each for the victors.

For VMI, Brad Nardella led the way offensively with a hat trick while Mickey Hofmeister added two goals as this combination accounted for five of the Keydets' six tallies. In goal, Evan Windisch did his best to keep VMI in the game all night as he recorded 17 saves.

Seahawk freshman Anthony Labetti (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) made the biggest impact of his young career, winning 4-of-7 faceoffs. William McMenamin (Longport, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) won 2-of-5 faceoffs while freshman Jacob Orvidas (Rochester, MN/Mayo Senior) was 1-of-2 as each team won 7-of-14 faceoffs on the evening.

Wagner held a slim 33-31 advantage in shots while the teams were tied 31-31 in the groundball department.

The Seahawks will look to make it a two-game sweep of their Spring break trip in the state of Virginia on Friday, March 21 when the Green & White play at the University of Richmond in an 8:00 pm contest.

Wagner fielded a men's lacrosse team for the first time in 2000 and the Seahawks are now one win away from tying the school single-season mark, achieved by the 2002 squad that posted a 3-10 record.