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Photo gallery (courtesy of Dan Ceccacci)
SCRANTON, Pa.—For a while, it looked like The University of Scranton men’s lacrosse team was in for a long afternoon against Elizabethtown College in Landmark Conference action Saturday at Fitzpatrick Field.
The Royals fell behind by four goals late in the fourth period before cutting the Blue Jay lead down to one with 12 seconds remaining. Elizabethtown then won the ensuing face-off and ran out the clock to preserve a 5-4 victory.
Sophomore midfielder Mike Specht (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) led the Blue Jays, now 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference, with two goals, senior attackman Russ LeClair (Elkridge, Md./Mount St. Joseph) had a goal and an assist, and sophomore attackman Joe Clark (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) and sophomore defenseman Luke Stephens (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) finished with a goal apiece.
The win was the sixth straight for Elizabethtown, which held a 32-23 advantage in shots and a 40-28 margin in ground balls.
Senior midfielder Will Mahle (Montgomery, NJ/Montgomery) led the Royals, now 4-5 overall and 1-1 in the Landmark, with two goals and an assist, senior attackmanAnthony Lombardo (Mendham, NJ/Mendham) had a goal and an assist, junior midfielderBrad Elkin (West Chester, Pa./Malvern Preparatory) chipped in a goal, and junior midfielder Josh Kasman (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) contributed two assists.
Four of Scranton’s five losses have been decided by one goal and all five have been by a total of six goals. Royal junior goalkeeper Nicholas McKaba (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris) finished with 10 saves while senior Chris Wenger (Kingsville, Md./Loyola Blakefield) made eight for the Blue Jays.
Stephens, a long-stick midfielder, came up with several big plays for Elizabethtown. He gave them a 1-0 lead in the first period with his first goal of the season on a play set up by junior midfielder Steve Nutting (Catonsville, Md./Mt. St. Joseph). On defense, he caused a turnover with three minutes remaining after the Royals’ cut the lead to two and came up with the crucial ground ball after the Blue Jays won the final face-off. He finished with five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
The Royal defense also stepped up today. Senior Peter Meehan (Rockville Centre, NY/South Side) and junior Patrick Niebler (Garden City, NY/Garden City) each caused two turnovers and combined for three ground balls and senior long-stick midfielder Ryan Millard (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) caused a turnover and tied for the team-lead in ground balls with four.
Scranton will return to action next Saturday, March 28, against Washington & Jefferson in Landmark Conference action beginning at 1:00 p.m. at Fitzpatrick Field.
--ROYALS--
