Photo by Kostas Lymperopoulos

Staten Island, NY – Junior attackman Andrew Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ / Lenape) led the way with four goals and one assist as the Wagner men's lacrosse team ripped off the final five goals of the game in overcoming a 6-4 deficit en route to recording a 9-6 come-from-behind win over Mount St. Mary's today at Hameline Field.
 
In earning their first Northeast Conference (NEC) victory of the season, the Seahawks improve to 1-3 in league play and 6-7 overall, with the six victories matching the program record for single-season wins that was set last season. In defeat, Mountaineers are also now 1-3 in NEC play while falling to 4-7 overall.
 


The first half was a defensive-minded affair as the teams were tied at 2-2 entering the intermission. The Green & White were 0-of-6 on faceoff attempts in the opening half before fifth-year senior midfielder William McMenamin (Longport, NJ / St. Augustine Prep) came on to win 7-of-12 in the second half, a turnaround that helped spur the Seahawk comeback.
 
After a Mount St. Mary's goal by Bubba Johnson off a Ryan Lamon gave the Mountaineers a 6-4 lead with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter, William McMenamin delivered an inspiring play which changed the momentum of the game. The veteran midfielder won the ensuing faceoff and streaked down the middle of the field before deking his man and burying a shot from eight yards out to make it a 6-5 game.
 
That's the way the score remained until fifth-year senior midfielder Paul DeVita (Westfield, NJ / Westfield) uncorked a 15-yard blast off a pretty feed from junior midfielder Joe Lomeli (Clark, NJ / A.L. Johnson / NJIT) as Wagner took advantage of an extra-man opportunity, knotting the game at 6-6 with 10:37 left to play.
 
Both goalies, Wagner sophomore Matt Sefcik (Towaco, NJ / Morristown Beard) and Mount junior Matt Vierheller, continued to come up big as neither team could find paydirt over the next five minutes until freshman attackman Dominic Branda (Ringwood, NJ / Don Bosco Prep) unleashed a 15-yard bullet off a nice pass from senior attackman Christian McCormick (Royersford, PA // Spring-Ford).
 
The Branda goal put the Seahawks in front 7-6 with 5:13 remaining in the game. Streilein the put the game out of reach by sending home a pair of tack-on goals in the final 1:30 as the Seahawks went on to record the 9-6 victory.
 
William McMenamin's game-changing late third-quarter goal was one of his two scores on the afternoon while the versatile South Jersey product also led the Seahawks in groundballs with five. Junior midfielder JP Pawela (Montgomery Village, MD / St. John's College) also recorded two points (1g, 1a), Branda and DeVita wound up with one goal apiece.
 
Sefcik was hot all game in recording 13 saves in goal for the Sefcik while junior defenseman Andrew Park (Kinnelon, NJ / Kinnelon) continued his bid for All-NEC honors with a team-high four caused turnovers to go with four groundballs.
 
Jack Mangan paced the Mountaineers with three goals, Ryan had two, along with an assist, while Johnson (2g) and Brenden McCarthy (2a) added two points apiece.
 
Statistically, the teams were dead even in shots at 34 apiece while the Seahawks held a 25-21 edge in groundballs. The aggressive Seahawk defense forced Mount into committing turnovers with six of those coming in the open field as the Mountaineers were just 17-of-23 on clear attempts. Conversely, the Green & White were successful on 23-of-25 clears while turning the ball over 13 times.
 
Wagner is next in action on Saturday, April 22 when the Seahawks travel to Philadelphia to meet Saint Joseph's University. Faceoff between the Seahawks and the Hawks is set for 1:00 p.m.

NOTES
Streilen's Second Straight Four-Goal Game
For Streilein, today's four-goal effort was his second straight, matching the four he had last week at Robert Morris. On the season, the crafty South Jersey native leads the Seahawks in goals (22), assists (13) and points (35).

ALS Ride For Life 
During today's Wagner-Mount St. Mary's game, money was raised in support of ALS Ride for Life through a 50/50 raffle with a the winner also receiving a Liberty Tavern gift card as a bonus prize. Following the game, more money was raised through an ice bucket challenge, featuring members of both teams, as parents, friends and team members cheered on the participants.




 
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