AMCATS Run to 15-3 Victory over Eagles

PAXTON, Mass. – The Anna Maria College men's lacrosse team downed the visiting Eagles of Green Mountain College, 15-3 in non-conference action on Tuesday evening at AMCAT field. The AMCATS open their season with a 1-0 record while Green Mountain falls to 0-1.

AMCAT LEADERS

Freshman Kurt Richardson (Narragansett, R.I.) led the AMCATS to victory with eight points from six goals and two assists on the night. Freshman attack, Brandon Pavoni (Granby, Mass.) joined Richardson on the leader board with five points of his own from three goals and two assists.

Junior midfield, Malik Griffith (Brooklyn, N.Y) totaled a game-high seven ground balls to go along with a caused turnover.

EAGLE LEADERS

Dominic Wright led the Eagles with two goals and Deven Rogers added a goal for Green Mountain. Wright, Rodgers, and David Gerken all recorded four ground balls.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Anna Maria opened up scoring early in the first period with a goal by freshman Kyle Benning (Puyallup, Wash.) with just 1:45 off the clock (1-0). Benning fired up for the AMCATS and notched another goal just two minutes later receiving a pass from Pavoni and finding the upper right corner of the net. Richardson tallied three goals and Pavoni added two more over the remaining ten minutes to end the first period with the AMCATS leading 7-0.

The AMCATS never let up, starting the second period with an early goal from sophomore midfielder, Ryan Rockwal (Chicopee, Mass.) in a man-up situation after a penalty was called on the Eagles at the 12:58 mark (8-0).

The Eagles got on the board in the second period as Rogers found his way to the back of the net with 6:18 on the clock. Anna Maria would add one more goal before the half with a goal from freshman defender John Bartose (Salem, N.H.). Bartose took the ball from one end of the field to the other before winding up for a shot on Green Mountain goalkeeper Carl Diethelm, and earning the AMCATS a 9-1 lead entering the halftime break.

Just a minute and a half into the third period, AMCAT midfielder Paul Mills (Auburn, Mass.) started up the scoring again and put the AMCATS up 10-1. The Eagles seemed to find some spark after the break as they responded to the AMCAT goal immediately. Wright tallied back to back goals to give Green Mountain their second and third goals of the game with 7:27 to play in the third (10-3). The AMCATS added one more goal in the third quarter (11-3).

Richardson earned himself the top spot on the leader board with three back to back goals at the beginning of the fourth and final period (14-3) and Andrew Guinane (Billerica, Mass.) finished out scoring for the game following a face-off won by Anna Maria with 10:02 to play (15-3).

GOALTENDERS

Sophomore Paul Schwarz (Staten Island, Mass.) totaled 16 saves in net for the AMCATS to earn a 1-0 record to start the season. Diethelm recorded five saves in 38 minutes of play and Daniel McKinney tallied one save in 21 minutes of play in the loss for Green Mountain

FACE-OFFS

Anna Maria was victorious on 11 of 20 face-offs on the day. Rogers compiled seven wins for the Eagles while Brendan Bartlett (Tyngsboro, Mass.) matched that game-high with seven face-off wins of his own.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Anna Maria returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 25 as they travel to Bard College for a 1:00 pm non-conference contest. The game will be played at Dietz Stadium in Kingston, N.Y.