LATROBE, Pa. (Mar 25) – The Saint Vincent College men's lacrosse team turned in a dominant performance on Wednesday afternoon at UPMC Field, rolling to a 19-3 victory over Franciscan University.
 
With the win, the Bearcats improved to 5-4 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
 
Saint Vincent controlled the action from the outset, scoring the game's first five goals in the opening quarter. Owen Rogers opened the scoring at the 9:06 mark off an assist from Ryan Rosenberger, before Connor Smith, Reed Hunt, Jonathan Nagy and Calvin Rose all added first-quarter goals to give the Bearcats a 5-0 lead after 15 minutes.
 
The Bearcats kept their foot on the gas in the second quarter. Smith scored an extra-man goal just 25 seconds into the period, Rose added an unassisted tally, and Nagy scored a man-up goal with 6:51 to play in the half as Saint Vincent carried an 8-0 lead into the break.
 
Saint Vincent added four more goals in the third quarter. Smith scored off a Rosenberger assist just 34 seconds into the frame, and after Franciscan got on the board, Hunt answered with a goal from Rogers.
 
Nagy later scored off a Smith assist, and Hunt closed the quarter with his third goal of the game to put the Bearcats in front 12-2 heading to the fourth.
 
The Bearcats poured in seven goals over the final quarter, getting scores from Hunt, Luca Blevins twice, Gavin Smallwood, Rosenberger, Neal Ritchie and Rosenberger again. Franciscan managed just one goal in the fourth as Saint Vincent closed out the 19-3 victory.
 
Rosenberger led the Saint Vincent offense with seven points on two goals and five assists, while Smith totaled six points on three goals and three assists.
 
Hunt finished with four goals and an assist, Nagy added three goals and one assist, and Smallwood chipped in one goal and two assists. Blevins and Rose each scored twice in the win.
 
As a team, Saint Vincent held commanding advantages in shots (72-20), shots on goal (41-9), ground balls (42-18), faceoffs (20-5) and extra-man opportunities, finishing a perfect 2-for-2 with the man advantage. Mason Krabbe went 12-for-13 on faceoffs and collected a team-best 13 ground balls, while Calvin Rose won 5-of-7 faceoffs.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats recorded 11 caused turnovers, led by three from Zander Vetter. In goal, Garrett Ritts earned the win after making two saves over the opening 30 minutes, while Tyler Friend played the second half and stopped four shots.
 
Saint Vincent returns to action on Saturday, March 28 with a home PAC matchup against Allegheny. The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at UPMC Field.