Cougars Hand Royals Second Straight Loss


Ryan Saraceni	Peter Meehan	Andrew Callaghan

John Gregitis	Nicholas McKaba	Anthony Lombardo

Box Score

UNION, NJ—The University of Scranton men’s lacrosse team dug itself an early hole that it couldn’t completely climb out of Wednesday’s evening against Kean University.

The Royals made a late surge after falling behind by six goals midway through the third period before dropping their second straight game, 8-5.

Sophomore Alec Mikrut (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) led Scranton, now 5-4, with two goals and two assists, senior John Gregitis (Wayne, Pa./St. Joseph’s Preparatory) finished with a goal and an assist, and junior Anthony Lombardo (Mendham, NJ/Mendham) and sophomore Andrew Callaghan (Maplewood, NJ/St. Peter’s Preparatory) scored a goal apiece.

Senior Richard Cheifitz (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) led the Cougars, now 8-1, with four goals and senior John Marcelli (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) added three. Kean also received a goal and an assist from sophomore Anthony Perrotta (Roseland, NJ/West Essex) and four assists from sophomore Matt Speciale (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough).

Much like Saturday’s 11-7 loss to SUNY Plattsburgh, the Royals hit a scoring slump that cost them dearly, only this time it came much early in the game. Scranton went nearly 31 minutes without a goal after Lombardo tied it up 1-1 with 5:41 left in the first period on a man-up opportunity.

Cheifitz and Marcelli then combined for four goals during a 6-0 run to give Kean a 7-1 lead. The Royals finally broke through on a goal by Gregitis on the first of back-to-back assists by Mikrut to spark a 3-1 rally that cut the Cougar lead to a manageable 8-4 entering the fourth period. Mikrut scored the game’s final goal, unassisted, with 11:50 remaining.

Junior Matt Finor (Churchville, Pa./Council Rock South) won 11 of 15 face-off attempts and sophomore goalkeeper Nicholas McKaba (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris) finished with 10 saves for the Royals, who held a 32-28 advantage in shots.

Defensively, senior captain Ryan Saraceni (Lansdale, Pa./LaSalle) scooped up four ground balls and caused two turnovers and junior Peter Meehan (Rockville Centre, NY/South Side) caused two turnovers for Scranton, which will take on Washington & Jefferson in Landmark Conference action this Saturday, March 29, in Washington, Pennsylvania, beginning at 3:00 p.m.