Box Score Box Score

Staten Island, NY – Junior midfielder Cory Santor (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) scored two goals to head a list of four different Wagner players who found the cage but Rutgers jumped out an early 4-0 lead en route to a 20-5 victory in men's lacrosse action today at Hameline Field.

The Seahawks had to wait three extra days to play their 2014 season opener as the regularly-scheduled opener on February 15 vs. Lafayette was postponed due to weather. Wagner now has a week to gather itself and prepare for its next test which comes at home vs. Monmouth on Wednesday, February 26 at Hameline Field.

Scoring one goal apiece for Wagner this afternoon were sophomore midfielder Paul DeVita (Westfield, NJ/Westfield), junior attack David DeCirce (Clarence, NY/Clarence), and senior midfielder Matthew Shute (Suffield, CT/Suffield).

The Scarlet Knights had the Seahawks on their heels right from the outset in this one. Joseph Nardella, one of the nation's elite faceoff men, won the game's opening faceoff and fed the ball ahead to a streaking Christian Trasolini, who converted the fast break goal just six seconds into the contest.

Just under 90 seconds later, Rich Rambo made it 2-0 with an unassisted tally at 13:27, followed by the first of Scott Klimchak's game-high four goals just 14 seconds later, off another Nardella assist, as Wagner found itself in a 3-0 hole less than four minutes into the game.

After a Klimchak goal at 10:57of the first quarter made it 4-0, Shute knocked home the Seahawks' first goal of the season, an unassisted blast from 10 yards out, to make it a 4-1 game with 8:30 to go in the opening quarter.

The Scarlet Knights went on to build a 14-3 halftime lead on their way to the 20-5 win.

Rutgers outshot Wagner 46-40, led in ground balls 35-23 and with Nardella leading the way by winning 17-of-20 faceoffs, the Scarlet Knights ended up with a 22-7 edge in this important statistical category.

Senior Nicholas Gibaldi (Rocky Point, NY, Rocky Point) made the 40^th start if his career and came up with fives in the first half. Freshman Nicholas Nesbitt (Burlington, Ontario/Salisbury School – CT) began the second half in goal and recorded two saves in 25:40 of action before giving way to sophomore Anthony Peruso (Warwick, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) who stopped two shots while playing the game's final 4:20 in goal.

In addition to Klimchak's four goals, Brian Goss, Christian Trasolini and Connor Murphy added three tallies apiece for Rutgers which improves to 2-0.

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