Photos by Bob Park

West Long Branch, NJ – The Wagner men's lacrosse team fought its way out of a pair of early four-goal deficits to tie the game at 7-7 early in the fourth quarter but Monmouth posted the game's last run in recording a 10-8 victory over the Seahawks today.

Junior attackman Andrew Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ / Lenape) recorded a hat trick on the afternoon to lead the Green & White in scoring while freshman attackman Dominic Branda (Ringwood, NJ / Don Bosco Prep) added two goals. Fifth-year senior midfielder Paul DeVita (Westfield, NJ / Westfield) and junior midfielder Joe Lomeli (Clark, NJ / Arthur L. Johnson / NJIT) recorded one goal and one assist apiece.
 
Registering single assists for the Seahawks were fifth-year senior attackman Patrick McMenamin (Longport, NJ / St. Augustine Prep) and senior midfielder Andrew Tirelli (East Setauket, NY / Ward Melville). In goal, the reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Defensive Player of the Week, sophomore Matt Sefcik (Towaco, NJ / Morristown Beard), registered 10 saves.
 
With the loss, the Green & White fall to 1-2 on the season with all three of the Seahawks' season-opening games having been decided by two goals or less. Monmouth, which opened its season with an impressive 12-10 win over No. 16 Villanova, improves to 2-1.
 
After the Seahawks fell behind in the first quarter by scores of 4-0 and 5-1, Branda got one back midway through the second quarter, off an assist from fellow freshman attackman Nic Ancona (Warrenton, VA / Paul VI), to make it a 5-2 game at the intermission.
 
Branda, who has notched three goals and three assists on the young season, opened the second half with his second consecutive goal, this one coming off a DeVita assist at the 13:58 mark of the third quarter, to draw Wagner within two at 5-3.
 
The Hawks scored three of the next four goals in building a 7-4 early fourth quarter lead. The Seahawks then went to work, exploding for three unanswered goals out of the sticks of Lomeli (unassisted at 13:10), Streilein (Tirelli assist at 10:04), followed by the equalizer, a man-up score by DeVita (Lomeli assist at 8:57).
 
Monmouth, however, responded with consecutive goals by Keen Tyler at 8:33 and 3:55, respectively and when Chris Daly found the net with 1:35 left, the Hawks were on top 10-7. Ancona then capped the day's scoring with a goal at the 53-second mark off a Patrick McMenamin feed to fashion the final score at 10-8.
 
Keen had three goals to lead Monmouth while Daly and Eamon Campbell tallied two apiece. The Hawks' goalie, Nick Hreshko, was credited with six saves.
 
Monmouth held the edge in shots (36-28), groundballs (21-17) and faceoffs (12-10) while both teams were 1-of-3 on extra-man opportunities.
 
Wagner is next in action one week from today, on Tuesday, February 28, when they travel to Piscataway, NJ to meet 14th-ranked Rutgers of the Big 10 Conference. Faceoff between the Seahawks and the Scarlet Knight at High Point Solutions Stadium is set for 3:00 p.m.

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