LATROBE, Pa. (Mar. 12)- The Saint Vincent men's lacrosse team held off a late second half push by Marietta, defeating the Pioneers 9-8.
 
After SVC outscored Marietta (1-2) 8-1 in the first half, the Pioneers stormed back with a six goal fourth quarter,  but Saint Vincent (6-0) still came away with the one goal win at UPMC Field to remain undefeated on the season.
 
Jacob Visalli led the way for Saint Vincent with a team-high four goals in the win, including what proved to be the game-winning goal in the third quarter. Visalli also picked up one ground ball and caused one turnover in the win.
 
Caleb Hawkins recorded three points the Bearcats, scoring two goals, while assisting on a goal as well. Jordan Billet, RJ Kenna, and Jonathan Nagy each found the net once, while Benjamin Wohlin, Matthew Cassidy, and Justin Wodarek all picked up assists in the non-conference win.
 
Defensively, Noah Sperling got the win in net for Saint Vincent, playing the first three quarters and racking up nine saves, while allowing only two goals. Garrett Ritts played the fourth quarter in net for SVC recording three saves. Brody McMahon and Kenna each forced three Pioneer turnovers.
 
It was a fast start for Saint Vincent offensively as Visalli netted the first goal of the contest just over two minutes into the first quarter. Visalli's goal assisted by Hawkins gave the Bearcats a 1-0 lead. Just over two minutes later, SVC struck again as Hawkins put an unassisted goal in the back of the net, increasing the Bearcats lead to 2-0.
 
Five minutes of play went by without a goal from either team, before Kenna scored on an assist from Wohlin with 5:53 remaining in the first quarter as Saint Vincent led 3-0. The Bearcats then scored a pair of unassisted goals over the next three minutes.
 
First, Billet scored, and Nagy followed that up with his lone goal of the game as SVC held a 5-0 lead. Marietta scored with 1:13 to go in the quarter to cut the Saint Vincent lead to 5-1 at the end of the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter it was all Saint Vincent. The Bearcats scored three goals in the first four and a half minutes of play. Visalli scored first to increase the SVC lead to 6-1 and Hawkins followed with his second
goal of the game just over one minute later to increase the Bearcats lead to 7-1. Visalli scored his third of the game and second of the quarter with 10:31 to go in the first half to increase the SVC lead to 8-1.
 
The 8-1 score remained the same going into halftime as both defenses stepped up in the final ten plus minutes of the first half.
 
Out of the halftime break the Visalli show continued as he tallied his fourth goal of the game on an assist from Wodarek, increasing the Saint Vincent lead to 9-1. After that is when the Marietta comeback started.
 
The Pioneers scored just over a minute after Visalli's goal on a man-up to cut the Saint Vincent lead to 9-2 with 9:44 remaining in the quarter. Once again over the remaining nine minutes of the quarter, both defenses held strong as the SVC lead remained 9-2 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Pioneers scored six goals, shutting out the Bearcats in the quarter. The first five goals of the quarter from Marietta all came on the man up as the Pioneers had cut the Saint Vincent lead to just two at 9-7 with 57 seconds remaining in the game.
 
After a faceoff win by the Pioneers, they took it into their offensive zone and scored again with 12 seconds left in the quarter, cutting the Saint Vincent lead to one at 9-8. The Bearcats held off the Pioneers in the final 12 seconds coming away with the faceoff to secure the win, keeping their undefeated record.
 
Saint Vincent compiled 43 shots compared to just 33 for the Pioneers. Marietta made 16 saves compared to 12 from SVC. The Bearcat defense forced 23 Marietta turnovers and scooped up 24 ground balls in the win as well.
 
The Bearcats put their undefeated record on the line when they travel to Muskingum for a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, March 15. Face off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in New Concord, Ohio.