AMCATS Suffer 12-4 Loss to Raptors

KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Anna Maria College men's lacrosse team fell to the Raptors of Bard College (12-4) at Dietz Stadium in Kingston, N.Y. on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action. The loss drops the AMCATS to an even 1-1 on the season while Bard starts their season with a record of 1-0.

AMCAT LEADERS

Freshman Brandon Pavoni (Granby, Mass.) led the AMCATS with three points from two goals and an assist to go along with three ground balls and two caused turnovers on the day. Freshman attacks, Kyle Benning (Puyallup, Wash.) and Kurt Richardson (Narragansett, R.I.) each added a goal in the loss for the AMCATS. Freshman defender, Jacob Smith (Belchertown, Mass.) had a team high four ground balls.

RAPTORS LEADERS

Freshman attack, Corey Rich led Bard to victory with a game-high four goals while adding an assist, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Anthony Stanley and Emmet O'Connell each added three goals while John Palermo added two goals for the Raptors. Junior, Dalton Davis recorded a game high five ground balls while sophomore defender, William Baffuto posted a game-high four caused turnovers.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Anna Maria took an early lead with back to back goals from Pavoni in the first quarter putting the AMCATS up 2-0 with 4:52 to play in the quarter. Bard responded quickly and was able to tie the game up at 2-2 at the end of the first with goals from O'Connell and Rich. Rich's goal came with just 19 seconds on the clock in the first period.

The Raptors dominated the second period tallying three goals and giving up none. Rich tallied his second goal of the game with 12:17 on the clock in the second period and Stanley posted back to back goals at the 9:02 and 7:24 mark to take a 5-2 lead into the halftime break.

The Raptors were able to extend their lead in the third period with a goal from Rich and a goal from John Palermo within 30 seconds of each other (7-2). After a penalty was called on Bard with 9:11 to play in the third period the AMCATS were able to tally their third goal of the game as Benning received a pass from midfielder, Ryan Rockwal (Chicopee, Mass.) and sent the ball past the Raptor's goaltender (7-3). The AMCATS tightened Bard's lead to three points with a goal from Richardson that was assisted by Pavoni as they were still a man-up with 6:11 to go in the third period (7-4).

That would be Anna Maria's final scoring play of the game and the Raptors went on to tally two more third period goals and three goals in the fourth period to take the final 12-4 victory.

Sophomore Paul Schwarz (Staten Island, Mass.) made an impressive 32 saves in the loss for the AMCATS. This performance was just two goals shy of the Anna Maria record for the most saves in a game which Schwarz set last season at Curry with 34 saves. John Henry made five saves in the victory for Bard.

FACE-OFFS

Anna Maria was victorious on eight of 18 face-offs on the day while the Raptors recorded ten wins. Freshman, Tre Demers (Granby, Mass.) compiled five wins while Michael O'Donnell recorded seven face-off wins for the home team

WHAT'S NEXT?

Anna Maria returns to action on Wednesday, Mar. 1 as they host Wheelock College for a 5:00 p.m. non-conference contest at AMCAT field.