Colonials Push Past Men's Lacrosse, 16-4

PAXTON, Mass.—The Anna Maria College men's lacrosse team suffered a 16-4 setback to the Colonials of Western Connecticut State University on Tuesday evening in non-conference action.

The win boosts the Colonials to 1-4 on the season, while Anna Maria falls to 1-5.

AMCAT LEADERS

The AMCATS saw two goals from freshman Zachary Bryant (Saco, Maine). Classmate Ryan Rockwal (Chicopee, Mass.) added a goal and an assist, while sophomore Tyler Hagan (Charlton, Mass.) finished with one score.

Senior Edward Jankowski (Billerica, Mass.) totaled a game-high nine ground balls and also recorded a team-best six caused turnovers.

WESTERN CONNECTICUT LEADERS

Senior Nate Wilson (Norwich, Conn.) exploded for a game-high nine points on the strength of six goals and three assists. Freshman Robby Senesen (Danbury, Conn.) chipped in with four goals, while senior Jesse Beatty (Redding, Conn.) tallied two goals and three assists.

Wilson also led the team in ground balls with seven, while Nicholas Hamed (Danbury, Conn.) finished with three caused turnovers.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Western Connecticut led by just one goal at the end of the first quarter and never trailed in the game. Beatty and Wilson scored the first two tallies of the game at the 12:20 and 8:36 marks before Rockwal found an open Hagan just outside the crease for Anna Maria's first score at the 4:51 mark. Following a Colonial goal by Senesen with 4:51 left in the quarter, Bryant scored an unassisted goal with 1:12 remaining.

The score remained locked for more than half of the second frame until Wilson tallied back-to-back goals at 7:17 and 5:41. A goal by Richard Pitman (Southbury, Conn.) gave the Colonials a 6-2 advantage, but Bryant scored against at the 1:33 mark to set the halftime score at 6-3.

Things broke apart for Anna Maria in the third quarter, as the Colonials netted five unanswered goals and opened the fourth with another three goals before Anna Maria broke up the stretch with an unassisted goal by Rockwal. Altogether, Western Connecticut outscored Anna Maria 10-1 in the second half and held a 28-11 advantage in shots.

Anna Maria actually took more shots than their opponents in the first half at 24-22.

GOALTENDERS

Freshman Paul Schwarz (Staten Island, Mass.) totaled 23 saves in net for the AMCATS, including nine saves in the second quarter alone. Junior Patrick Tynan (Somers, Conn.) earned the win for the Colonials, tallying 15 saves in just over 51 minutes of work before giving way to classmate Zach Craybas (Bethel, Conn.) who made one save in relief.

FACE-OFFS

Western Connecticut was victorious on 14 of 23 face-offs on the day. Casey Therriault (Milford, Conn.) compiled a game-high 10 wins. Malik Griffith (Brooklyn, N.Y.) won a team-best six face-offs for Anna Maria.

WHAT'S NEXT

Anna Maria returns to action on Thursday when they host Houghton in a 5:00 p.m. non-conference tilt. Western Connecticut hosts Merchant Marine on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.