LATROBE, Pa. (Feb. 22) – The Saint Vincent men's lacrosse team rolled to a 17-8 victory over Juniata in its 2023 home opener at UPMC Field.
Ten different players recorded at least one point for the Bearcats (2-0), who jumped out to a 9-1 halftime lead and never looked back.
SVC outshot Juniata (1-1) by a 50-32 margin, while the Bearcats snared 43 ground balls, forced 17. Turnovers and won 18 of 29 faceoffs.
The Bearcats saw a pair of players record five-point games, with
Caleb Hawkins scoring three goals with two assists and
Matthew Cassidy two goals with three helpers, while
Jacob Visalli tallied three goals with one assist.
Jordan Billet (2 goals, 1 assist),
Jonathan Nagy (2G, 1A) and
Justin Wodarek (1G, 2A) all registered three points, while
Brady Beard,
Andrew Coholich,
Eli Hartle and
Liam McCall each scored a goal apiece.
Noah Sperling started in goal and made five saves on six shots to earn the win, while
Garrett Ritts played the third quarter in the cage and made three saves on four shots.
Nick Carter and
Jack Zayas split time in goal in the fourth, with each player making one save.
Brody McMahon, the reigning Presidents' Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week, led both sides with four caused turnovers and six ground balls, while Billet forced two turnovers and collected five ground balls. Fueled by a 17-for-22 performance in the face-off circle, Beard led both sides with nine ground balls.
Juniata scored the game's first goal just 80 seconds into play, but Billett answered right back just 25 seconds later with a goal, off an assist from Cassidy, to tie the game at 1-1. The combination hooked up for the second time with 8:52 left in the quarter to put SVC in front 2-1, giving them a lead they would not relinquish.
Over the final six minutes of the quarter, Cassidy scored once and Hawkins twice to push the Bearcat lead to 5-1, and the hosts continued to roll in the second frame. SVC scored all four goals in the second quarter, with two from Nagy and one apiece from Cassidy and Hawkins, to open up a 9-1 halftime lead.
Juniata temporarily halted the 9-0 SVC run with a goal by Brandon Simonini two minutes into the third quarter, but the Bearcats stormed right back with five unanswered goals – three from Visalli – to take a 14-2 lead into the final 15 minutes.
The fourth quarter saw Beard score a man-down goal, while McCall and Hartle each scored their first career tallies.
Simonini and Jacob Wallman each scored three goals to lead the Eagles, while Kenny Ward played all 60 minutes in goal and made 14 saves.
Saint Vincent will be back at UPMC field when it returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 25, hosting the University of Mount Union at 1 p.m.
