ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The Elizabethtown College men's lacrosse team allowed the second-fewest goals in program history, topping Susquehanna, 13-1, Wednesday afternoon at Wolf Field.
With the win, the Blue Jays improve to 4-1 on the season and in Landmark play, while the River Hawks fall to 2-7 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
Junior Micah Ballew dished out a career-high three assists, while classmate Nick Cost registered two goals and an assist. Senior Thomas Palen and junior Alex Kilgour tallied two goals as well. Junior Phil Rueter, sophomores Colin Cummings and Justin Pasquale, and freshman Colin Kondracki each scored their first collegiate goal.
Susquehanna's lone goal came from senior Colton Dick, assisted by freshman Kobi Buffa.
The first quarter was a defensive battle between the two teams as graduate student Tom Mahoney (3) and senior Tyler Gross (5) combined for eight saves in the period. Cost broke the deadlock with 4:26 on the clock, rifling home his fourth goal of the season.
Etown began to build momentum in the second quarter, finding goals from Kilgour, sophomore Grady Meredith, and senior Thomas Palen to make the halftime score 4-0.
The Blue Jays took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring Susquehanna 6-0 in the period. Senior Cameron Goodling highlighted the run, tallying a goal and an assist.
The River Hawks managed to score their lone goal of the game at the start of the fourth quarter, taking advantage of a man-up opportunity as Buffa found Dick with 14:35 on the clock.
That was the only blemish on the scoreboard for the Blue Jays as they scored the final three goals of the game for their largest victory of the season, 13-1.
Mahoney (4-1) continued his outstanding play, making 13 saves on 21 shots. He leads the Landmark Conference in save percentage (.670) and goals-against average (6.34). Junior John Talbott relieved Mahoney in the fourth quarter followed by freshman Brayden Franey who made his collegiate debut.
Senior Tyler Gross (2-7) made 12 saves on 41 shots faced.
Junior Danny Gilbert was 10-14 on face-offs with a team-high six ground balls. Seniors Brandon Sankey and Griffin Liebsch had four ground balls apiece.
Etown is back in action this Saturday, April 24, when they travel to Madison, N.J. to take on Drew. Opening face-off is set for 1 p.m. For updated spectator policies from the other Landmark schools, please visits the conference's spectator policy landing page.
