Pictured Above: Sophomore midfielder Tyler Grady
(photo by Bob Park)
Box Score
Staten Island, NY – The Wagner men's lacrosse team received scores from six different players and fought back from a pair of two-goal second-half deficits to force overtime, but Quinnipiac's Brett DiSalvo tallied the final goal, sinking the game-winner with 2:48 left in OT, lifting the Bobcats to a 7-6 win over the Seahawks at Hameline Field on Saturday.
In dropping their fourth game of the season by three goals or less, and their second by a one-goal margin, Wagner falls to 1-6 on the season while Quinnipiac, which competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), improves to 2-3.
After the Bobcats jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, the Seahawks fought back with two straight scores to tight it, the first from junior
Nick Warren's third fast-break goal of the season that began with his own faceoff win, followed by a score fro junior attackman
Dominic Branda off an assist from sophomore midfielder
Tyler Grady.
Quinnipiac then hit for two scores, sandwiched around an extra-man goal by senior attackman
Davis Prince, which came on an assist from senior midfielder
Spencer Kaufman, as the Bobcats took a 4-3 lead into halftime.
The third quarter was a defensive affair as QU notched the lone score in taking a 5-3 lead into the final period.
Seahawk freshman midfielder
Stephen Dwyer drew Wagner to within one, at 5-4, delivering an in-traffic, short-range blast at the 12:47 mark. QU answered on its ensuing possession 29 seconds later, as defenseman CJ Gallagher came forward off a failed Wagner clear to deposit one home, making it a 6-4 game with 12:28 left.
That's the way the score remained until the Seahawks struck for back-to-back goals within a 46-second span in forging a 6-6 tie. The first of the two scores came on an unassisted tally by Grady with 4:22 left, followed by a pretty, pretty bang-bang goal by junior attackman
Nic Ancona, a 10-yard missile from the left wing off a feed from senior midfielder
Kevin Gray, that knotted the game with 3:36 left.
Wagner had one last chance to win it in regulation as senior long-stick middie
Riley Owens came up with a loose ball and raced the length of the field, but his shot with four seconds left sailed left of the mark as the game headed to overtime.
With 4:00 put on the clock to begin sudden-death overtime, QU's Demetri George came up with a big faceoff win. The Bobcats then patiently worked the ball around the perimeter until Tyler DeVito passed to DiSalvo, and the sophomore midfielder was able to whistle it home, giving Quinnipiac the 7-6 win.
The six Seahawk goal scorers were Warren, Branda, Dwyer, Grady, and Ancona, with Grady's assist giving him a team-high two points on the day. Grady's helper was one of three credited to Wagner, along with one each by Kaufman and Gray. For Quinnipiac, attackman Jake Tomsik recorded a game-high six points on three goals and three assists, while four other Bobcats were able to find the net one time each.
Statistically, the game was as close as the final score would indicate, with Quinnipiac holding a slim edge in shots (35-33) and ground balls (22-19). The Bobcats were successful on all 20 of their clear attempts but the tenacious Seahawk defense forced them into 18 turnovers. While Wagner was just 18-of-23 on clears, the Seahawks finished with four fewer miscues on the afternoon, turning the ball over just 14 times.
Quinnipiac was successful on 10-of-17 faceoffs with George handling all of the matchups in the X, while Warren, who finished with a team-best four ground balls, did the same for the Seahawks. Sophomore defenseman
Kyle Stofko spearheaded a spirited and aggressive defensive effort by the Seahawks, forcing a game-high three caused turnovers to go with two ground balls.
In goal, senior
Matt Sefcik made nine saves while QU's Nick DiMuccio was credited with 10.
Wagner will play the first Northeast Conference game under first-year head coach
Bill McCutcheon next, when the Green & White travel to Geneva, NY to meet Hobart on Saturday, March 16. Faceoff between the Seahawks and the Statesmen is set for 3:00 p.m.
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