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UNION, NJ—The University of Scranton men’s lacrosse team scored four times in the third period to break away from a one-goal halftime lead en route to a 14-7 victory over Kean University Wednesday evening.
Junior midfielder Alec Mikrut (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) scored four goals—all in the second half-- senior midfielder Will Mahle (Montgomery, NJ/Montgomery) had three goals and two assists as Scranton won its second straight game to improve to 6-5.
The Royals, who held a 29-22 advantage in shots and a 31-24 margin in ground balls, also received three goals from senior attackman Anthony Lombardo (Mendham, NJ/Mendham) two from sophomore attackman Jake Haimson (Montville, NJ/Montville), and a goal and an assist apiece from junior midfielder Brad Elkin (West Chester, Pa./Malvern Preparatory) and sophomore midfielder Nick Mullery (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson).
Kean, which fell to 5-5 on the year, was led by junior midfielder Jeff Christiano (River Vale, NJ/Pascak Valley/Bridgton Academy) with two goals and junior midfielders Eric Talbot (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) and Anthony Perrotta (Roseland, NJ/West Essex), junior attackman Anthony Carpenter (Yorktown Heights, NY/Somers), and sophomore midfielders Anthony Rybek (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) andBrian Mills (Vernon, NJ/Vernon) chipped in one apiece.
Mikrut ignited a 4-0 run in the third period with back-to-back goals and Lombardo and Mullery followed with goals on man-up situations as the Royals turned a 5-4 halftime lead into a 9-4 advantage entering the final 15 minutes of play. Kean did manage to sandwich a pair of goals around one by Mikrut to close the gap to four, 10-6, before Scranton scored four straight goals to put the game away.
Defensively, junior goalkeeper Nicholas McKaba (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris) finished with eight saves for Scranton, which also received two caused turnovers apiece from senior defensemanPeter Meehan (Rockville Centre, NY/South Side) and Mikrut. Senior Matt Finor (Churchville, Pa./Council Rock South) won 12 of 22 face-offs and finishedwith five ground balls for Scranton, which will return to Landmark Conference action this Saturday, April 4, against Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
With a season-high four goals tonight, Mikrut moves into a tie for 35th place on the Royals’ all-time scoring list with 72 total points (54 goals, 18 assists).
--ROYALS--
