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SCRANTON, Pa.—The University of Scranton men’s lacrosse team overcame a five-goal deficit in the fourth period, but DeSales University hung on for an 8-7 victory Wednesday afternoon at Fitzpatrick Field.
The Royals, now 0-2, had an opportunity to tie the game on their final possession, but Scranton turned it over coming out of a timeout and the Bulldogs ran out the clock to post their first win ever in the series after losing the previous 12 meetings.
Freshman attackman Joe Neggia (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) led DeSales, now 1-0, with three goals and an assist and sophomore midfielder Justin Wilson (Hummelstown, Pa./Hershey) and senior midfielderLance Bracale (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) chipped in two goals apiece. The Bulldogs also received a goal and an assist from senior attackmanRyan Loughlin (New Brunswick, NJ/St. Joseph Metuchen) and junior goalkeeper Matt Warnken (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford) finished with 11 saves.
Junior attackman Andrew Marone (Morristown, NJ/Seton Hall Preparatory) led the Royals with two goals and two assists, junior midfielder Josh Kasman (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) finished with two goals, and junior midfieldersAlec Mikrut (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) and Nicholas Swift (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) and sophomore attackman Jake Haimson (Montville, NJ/Montville) added a goal apiece.
The Royals got off to a rocky start, committing five turnovers in the first period in falling behind 3-0 and eventually 4-0 after Loughlin scored on a play set up by freshman midfielder Tommy Friedman (Monroe, NY/Monroe Woodbury) just 51 seconds into the second period. Scranton finally got untracked and cut the lead to two by intermission on goals by Swift and Marone at the 8:56 and 3:28 marks, respectively.
The Bulldogs appeared to have the game completely in control after Neggia closed out a 4-1 run with 9:09 left in the fourth period to take an 8-3 lead. Scranton then scored four straight goals within a seven-minute span that was capped off by Kasman’s second goal with 46 seconds left. Senior midfielder Matt Finor (Churchville, Pa./Council Rock South) won the ensuing face-off and the Royals called a timeout to set up a play, but DeSales’ junior long-stick midfielder Tim Barry (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford) came up with the ground ball to seal the victory.
Junior goalkeeper Nicholas McKaba (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris) finished with nine saves and Finor went 13-for-19 in face-offs for Scranton, which held a 30-20 advantage in ground balls.
The Royals will close out a two-game home stand this Saturday, February 28, against Muhlenberg College at 1:00 p.m. at Fitzpatrick Field.
--ROYALS--
