Mike Scrafano at DeSales 2/17/18
Pat Jacoby
7
Winner Elizabethtown ETOWN 1-0
4
DeSales DSU 0-1
Winner
Elizabethtown ETOWN
1-0
7
Final
4
DeSales DSU
0-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Elizabethtown ETOWN 1 2 2 2 7
DeSales DSU 1 2 0 1 4

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Scrafano nets four, Blue Jays hold off DeSales in opener

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- Sophomore Mike Scrafano scored four goals on four shots and freshman Brandon Sankey provided four points in his college debut to lead Elizabethtown over DeSales, 7-4, in its 2018 season opener on Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Jays, who lost 91 percent of their offensive production from last year's NCAA Championships qualifying team, were down a goal in the waning moments of the first half before Sankey darted out from behind the cage and fired a low shot past Bulldog goalie Matt Barry with one second remaining. Sankey's first career goal capped a three-point half (one goal, two assists) and made it a 3-3 game at the break.

Scrafano gave Elizabethtown (1-0) its first lead of the day, 4-3, with 6:39 to play in the third quarter, completing his second career hat trick off a feed from Sankey. Twelve seconds later, Griffin Liebsch found the back of the net and the Blue Jays held DeSales (0-1) without a goal in the period.

Junior Ben Hiltebeitel collected E-town's fourth straight goal 1:28 into the fourth quarter and the Blue Jays tightened up fundamentally. Jeremy Klipple caused two fourth-quarter DSU turnovers, while Jon Knapp and Liebsch added one each. The Bulldogs were pressured into five giveaways in the final period, but Elizabethtown committed just one to pull out its seventh straight victory in a season-opener.

DeSales closed the gap to 6-4 on Joe Neggia's second goal of the game with 10:25 to go, but Scrafano beat Barry for the fourth time at the 6:33 mark to restore Elizabethtown's three-goal advantage. Along with establishing a new single-game career-high in goals, the sophomore from Easton tied a career-high with four points.

Sankey assisted on Scrafano's first three goals and also totaled four points. Klipple caused a team-high three turnovers and shared the team lead in ground balls (four) with fellow defenseman Kyle Coats.

Elizabethtown outshot the Bulldogs 21-10 in the second half and 34-23 for the game. The Blue Jays were also 21-of-24 clearing, while DeSales failed to clear on eight of its 23 attempts.

Junior goalie Jack Myers, making his first start since Feb. 26, 2016, stopped three shots in a winning effort. He made crucial saves on both DSU shots on goal in the third when the Jays opened a multi-goal lead.

Neggia was joined in the scoring column by Eric Magro and Bryan Weber for DeSales, while Barry made a game-high nine saves.

The Blue Jays will face St. Mary's (Md.) in their home opener next Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
Print Friendly Version