Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College men's lacrosse team led late into the third quarter Saturday, but a late run from Long Island University (LIU) put the game away as the Seahawks fell to the Sharks in Northeast Conference (NEC) action, 18-13, from Hameline Field.
Junior
Stephen Dwyer led an aggressive Wagner attack with season-highs in goals (three) and assists (three). Graduate student
Nic Ancona brilliantly dissected the LIU defense with a career-high five assists, adding a goal as well. Freshman
Justin White recorded his first collegiate hat trick, adding two assists. Graduate student
Philip Buque notched his fourth hat trick of the season, and fellow graduate student
Tim Schmidt matched his career-high with two goals. Senior defender
Matt Morris rounded out the scoring with his first goal as a Seahawk.
Sophomore
Brendan Higgins finished with four ground balls and two caused turnovers, junior Matt Reuter won 15-of-30 face-offs, finishing with four ground balls as well, and the trio of graduate student
Connor Sweeney, junior
Tommy Scarpello and sophomore
Benjamin Stewart all finished with at least one ground ball and one caused turnover. Sophomore
Danny Brady recorded 15 saves in net, finishing with a team-high seven ground balls.
Jake Gillis led all scorers with six goals and seven points for the Sharks. Blake Behlen added five assists, and Richie LaCalandra finished with a hat trick and five points. Anthony Dimatteo won 16-of-28 face-offs, finishing with a game-high 13 ground balls.
How It Happened:
Schmidt netted Wagner's lone goal of the opening quarter, as the Sharks opened a 4-1 lead. After nearly six scoreless minutes to open the second quarter, Buque scored his first of the day before Dwyer added a highlight reel goal just over a minute later.
From there, the game of runs took over. First, it was the Sharks, who scored three straight to open a 7-3 lead with less than five minutes to go in the half. Then, Wagner answered with four straight to close to the half, plus a fifth straight to open the second half, grabbing an 8-7 lead; Buque, Schmidt, Dwyer (2x) and White all scored during the run.
LIU then countered with three goals in less than two minutes to grab the lead back at 10-8, but Wagner responded with three straight, also in less than two minutes, inching in front in the back-and-forth battle.
With Wagner still in front 12-11 after the teams traded a goal apiece in the late stages of the third quarter, LIU scored seven in a row across the final two quarters, opening its largest lead of the game, 18-12. White wrapped up the scoring with his hat trick-completing goal late in the fourth.
Beyond the Numbers
- Wagner set season-highs in goals, assists (11), ground balls (34), shots (53), shots on goal (26), and recorded its fewest turnovers of the season (14)
- Higgins posted his fourth straight game with at least four ground balls anda caused turnover
- Morris became the first primary defender to score a goal this season for the Seahawks
Up Next for Wagner:
Wagner opens a two-game road trip with a Saturday, April 3 affair against Saint Joseph's. Opening face-off is slated for 3:30 from Sweeney Field in Philadelphia.
