BOX SCORE

Fairfield, CT – Wagner held its own early and trailed by just a 5-1 count at halftime before Sacred Heart pulled away for an 18-4 victory under the lights at Campus Field in the first-ever Northeast Conference (NEC) game for both teams.

The newly-formed six-team NEC men's lacrosse league is comprised of Wagner, Bryant, Mount St. Mary's, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart.

Eric Madigan scored three goals for the Pioneers while Bailey Dodds and Bryan Badolato added two goals apiece.

Wagner received two goals apiece from senior attack Mike Hurley (Billerica, MA/ Billerica) and sophomore midfielder Colin O'Rourke (Worcester, MA/ St. John's Shrewsbury) while sophomore attack Brian Faughnan (New Canaan, CT/ New Canaan) and junior midfielder Cory Perkins (Chatsworth, CA/ Chaminade College Prep) chipped in with one assist each. Senior defender Colin Shaw (Malvern, PA/ Archbishop Carroll) led Wagner in ground balls with four.

Sacred Heart opened the second half with a 6-1 in opening up a commanding 11-2 lead with 5:24 left in the third quarter.

The Pioneers dominated in faceoffs, winning 20-of-26 while leading in shots (42-32) and ground balls (41-24). Sacred Heart was 1-of-4 in extra man opportunities while the Seahawks were 0-of-3 in EMO's. Four different goalies combined for 13 saves for the Pioneers. For Wagner, freshman Nicholas Gibaldi (Rocky Point, NY/ Rocky Point) had nine saves in the game's first 47 minutes while junior Peter Rubin (East Rockaway, NY/ East Rockaway) recorded two saves in the final 12 minutes.

With the win, Sacred Heart improves to 4-5 overall, 1-0 in the NEC while Wagner falls to 0-8 on the season, 0-1 in league play,

Wagner is next in action on Saturday, April 9 when the Seahawks host Bryant in a 2:00 p.m. faceoff.