SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Sophomore Kyle Holmes (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) scored a career-high seven goals and The No. 3 seed University of Scranton men's lacrosse team (12-7) rolled past the No. 2 seed Susquehanna River Hawks by a score of 14-4 in Landmark semifinal action on Thursday at Sassafras Field in Selinsgrove.
With the victory, the Royals advance to Saturday's Landmark Championship game against the winner of No. 1 seed Elizabethtown/No. 4 seed Catholic at the site of the highest remaining seed.
Holmes' seven goals surpassed his previous career-high of five that he had matched in Tuesday's quarterfinal victory over Drew and marked the most goals by a Scranton player since Connor Kirkwood scored seven against Catholic on Mar. 29, 2018.
The Bridgewater, N.J., native eclipsed the 40-goal mark for the season with a tally at the 10:46 mark of the first quarter and added a second later in the period for a 2-0 lead after one. Scranton took control of the game with a dominant second quarter in which they outscored the River Hawks by an 8-0 margin including three goals from Holmes, the last of which made it a 10-0 game at the half.
Freshman Myles McCutcheon (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) opened the scoring in the second half and Holmes added his sixth of the game later in the period as the Royals held a 12-2 advantage after three. Susquehanna's Brennan Lorence tallied a pair of goals early in the fourth, but were unable to get any closer and goals from Holmes and sophomore Quinn Carson (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford) preserved the decisive victory.
The Royals got three-point games from McCutcheon (two goals, one assist), senior Joe Boyle (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) who had a goal and two assists and sophomore Jason Kozak (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) who recorded three helpers.
Graduate student Colin Pierce (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) collected seven ground balls on the day and junior Zachariah Palinkas (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) notched three ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Sophomore goalie Declan Allen (Garden City, N.Y./Millbrook) made nine saves and allowed just three goals over 55:57 of action.
A full preview of Saturday's championship game will be posted tomorrow at athletics.scranton.edu.
--ROYALS--
