YORK, PA – On a dreary Wednesday
afternoon in south central Pennsylvania, the York College
men's lacrosse team fell 18-7 to #1 Stevenson University. The
Capital Athletic Conference setback drops the Spartans to 5-6 (3-3
CAC) on the year while the Mustangs maintain their flawless mark
improving to 10-0 (4-0 CAC).
Things looked promising early-on
for the Green and White as midfielder Josh Muskin (Union
Bridge, Md./Francis Scott Key) fired the game's
opening salvo just 1:52 into the contest. After collecting a ground
ball, Muskin dashed toward the Mustang goal, before putting the
Spartans up by an early 1-0 margin.
The junior's first goal of
2009 proved to be the only lead York would hold as Stevenson struck
back with three straight tallies.
Drew Brady kick-started the
Stevenson spurt with his fourth of the season merely 37 seconds
after Muskin's score. Jimmy Dailey, who would go on to record
eight points on five goals and three assists, notched his 14th of
the year off a pass from Steve Kazimer with 8:04 showing on the
first quarter clock. Dailey's goal provided the Mustangs with
a lead they would not relinquish. Greg Furshman finished off the
3-0 run at the 5:13 mark of the first, courtesy of his 17th of
2009.
York's B.J. Blaker
(West Chester, Pa./Henderson) cut into Stevenson's
lead with 3:07 remaining in the opening stanza when he combined
with Ryan Schab (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip), to
bring the score to 3-2.
The second quarter belonged to the
visitors as the Mustangs broke the game open with six goals in the
period. Kazimer scored three times in the period, including
back-to-back tallies to finish the half, while Dailey provided
three assists, two of which went to Kazimer.
Now up a comfortable 9-4, Stevenson
came out of the halftime break and steadily built their lead
throughout the remaining 30 minutes of play. The Mustangs scored
nine more times in the game, including another six-goal stanza in
the third quarter.
The Mustangs talented defensive
unit frustrated the Spartans throughout the game, led by 6'5"
225-pound senior defenseman Mike Simon who persistently harassed
the Spartans' top offensive players over the majority of the
contest. As a team, Stevenson only allowed a few quality attempts
on goal. When the Green and White did manage to get a shot off,
Mustang goalkeeper Geoff Hebert came up with big saves time and
again.
For the contest, Stevenson led
51-30 in shots, with only 15 of those Spartans attempts being on
target. The visitors also owned a slight 53-50 edge in ground
balls. The majority of face-offs belonged to Stevenson as they took
16-of-28 while they were also a flawless 4-4 on man-up
opportunities.
Dailey scored five goals to pace
the Mustang offense while he also chipped in with three assists.
Kazimer and Brady each recorded hat tricks while Kazimer added an
assist. Richie Ford contributed five points on a pair of goals and
three helpers. Tyler Maguire led his squad with nine ground balls
while Furshman and Joe Valderas each won eight face-offs. Hebert
was nothing short of stellar in goal for the Mustangs making seven
saves on the day, including several should-have-been goals. Chris
Carroll relieved Hebert with 8:59 remaining in the game as he
registered one stop.
Ryan McNicholas (Fallston,
Md./Fallston) paced the Green and White with a pair of
scores to up his season total to a team-best 22. Schab added two
points on a goal and assist while four other Spartans added a goal
each. Zach Scherr (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin)
collected a game-high ten ground balls while he also won ten
face-offs. Despite the final score, junior defenseman James
Greenwood (Bel Air, Md./Fallston) put in a quality
performance, recording a game-high five caused turnovers. Sophomore
goalkeeper Chris Collins (Westminster,
Md./Westminster) made eleven saves over his 60 minutes of
work.
The Spartans will look for a return
to the win column when they travel to Mary Washington on Saturday,
April 4. The CAC tilt is scheduled for 1:00 pm in Fredericksburg,
Va.
GAME BOX
Ryan Schab photo courtesy of Scott
Guise
