Box Score (PDF) I Box Score (HTML)

Easton, PA – Senior attackman Billy Battaglia (Madison, NJ/Madison), one of six goal-scorers for Wagner, tallied two goals and dished out two assists but the Seahawks were unable to overcome a 5-0 third-quarter run that carried Lafayette to a 12-7 win today at Fisher Field.
 
With the loss, which follows last week's 15-8 season-opening victory over Manhattan, the Green & White fall to 1-1 on the season while the Leopards, who dropped their opener, 12-8, to Sacred Heart, are also 1-1 on the young season.
 
The Seahawks fell behind 3-1 after one quarter and trailed 5-2 late in the first half before striking for two goals within a span of 1:56 to make it a 5-4 game at halftime. Wagner made it three straight goals at the outset of the second half before Lafayette answered with a game-changing 5-0 splurge, during a red-hot 3:23 stretch, in building a 10-5 lead en route to the 12-7 win.
 
Lafayette outshot Wagner 32-26 and led in ground balls by a 33-25 count while the Seahawks won 11-of-21 faceoffs.
 
After the Leopards jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, sophomore midfielder JP Pawela (Montgomery Village, MD/ St. John's College), cut the deficit in half with an unassisted goal at the 8:42 mark of the first quarter. A late first-quarter tally by Lafayette's Eric Joseph, one of his game-high five goals, was answered by a diving goal by Battaglia, just right of the goal mouth, which made it a 3-2 game 36 seconds into the second quarter.
 
Kevin Lewis then countered with two consecutive goals  for the Leopards to make it 5-2, with the latter score coming with 4:55 to go before halftime. 
 
Wagner answered right back, however, just eight seconds later to make it 5-3. The quick-strike sequence began when junior midfielder Anthony Labetti (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) won the ensuing faceoff with sophomore attackman Andrew Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ// Lenape) collecting the ground ball and hitting redshirt-junior midfielder Patrick McMenamin (Longport, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) in stride. The reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Week, who hit for six goals in the win over Manhattan, buried the shot to make it a two-goal game with 4:47 before intermission.
 
Then, at the 3:51 mark of the half, Streilein converted a goal off of a Battaglia feed that made it 5-4 at halftime.
 
Just 1:11 into half number two, Battaglia scored the equalizer, knotting the game at 5-5 on an unassisted goal while completing a 3-0 run. It was at this juncture when Lafayette embarked on its five-goal scoring spree, with two coming out of the stick of Joseph.
 
Wagner closed to within 10-6 when sophomore attackman Spencer Beyer (Carlsbad, CA/Carlsbad) knocked home an unassisted tally with 8:59 left in the third. With the Seahawks trailing 11-6 in the fourth, it was William McMenamin's (Longport, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) turn, as the red-shirt junior middie made it 11-7 with a goal off of Battaglia's second helper of the game. This would prove to e Wagner's final score of the game, however, as Jason Sands capped the day's scoring with a goal at the 8:27 mark of the fourth quarter for Lafayette which fashioned the final score at 12-7.
 
In addition to Battaglia's two-goal, two-assist effort, Streilein finished with three points (1G, 2A). Finishing with one goal apiece for the Seahawks were Pawela, Patrick and William McMenamin, along with Beyer. In goal, sophomore Matt Sefcik (Totowa, NJ/Morristown Beard School) came up with eight saves in the second game of his career.
 
Joseph led the way for Lafayette with six points (5G, 1A), while Lewis added a hat trick. Goalie Ben Facone recorded 10 saves in picking up the win.
 
Wagner is next in action on Tuesday, February 23 when the Green & White play host to the Monmouth University Hawks of the MAAC, with faceoff at Hameline Field set for 3:00 p.m.
 
Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@WagnerAthletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department and @WagnerLacrosse for information pertaining specifically to the Seahawk men's lacrosse program