Mitchell College Fast Start Fuels LAX's Win at Albertus Magnus

Recap, photo courtesy of Mitchell College

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College men's lacrosse team fell to visiting Mitchell College, 13-8, in non-conference action on Thursday afternoon at Celentano Field.

The Mariners avenged a one-goal setback to the Falcons last spring to improve to 5-6 on the year, while Albertus Magnus dropped its second straight to move to 4-7 overall.

It was a balanced offensive attack for Mitchell with four different players scoring at least two goals on the afternoon. Jacob Setzko led the Mariners with four tallies while Owen LaPorte netted three goals and added two assists. Both McCarthy Brodaski and Kyle Perry potted two markers apiece for the guests.

On the defensive side, Maximilian Crowley had a game-best six caused turnovers and Ryan
Comerford added five of his own for Mitchell. JD LeMay made 14 saves in goal against 38 shots.

Greg Buck paced the offensive attack for the hosts with a game-high six goals to go along with one assist. Brennan Moore chipped in one marker and three helpers while classmate Paul Mirmina contributed one tally and one assist for Albertus Magnus.

Defensively, Dom Moscato recorded a team-leading four caused turnovers for AMC, while Pat Croteau and Adam Earl registered three caused turnovers apiece.

In the face-off circle, Justin Bennet was stellar for the hosts, going 17-of-21 with nine ground balls. Tommy Gillen won all four of his face-off attempts and Matt Mueller scooped a game-high 13 ground balls.

The Mariners came out of the gates quickly, holding a 7-2 edge after the first quarter. During the stanza the visitors broke a 1-1 tie with five unanswered goals to take a lead they would not surrender.

Ten seconds after Mitchell opened the scoring, AMC won the ensuing face-off and Buck buried his first of the day off a feed from Moore. After Buck's tally, the Mariners netted five straight capped by an unassisted strike from LaPorte with just under five minutes left in the quarter.

During the second quarter, the Falcons outscored Mitchell, 4-3, to trail 10-6 at halftime. Midway through the stanza, Buck netted a natural hat trick with three consecutive goals to pull the home team to within four at 9-5. The two squads traded goals down the stretch with Mitchell taking the four-goal advantage into the break.

Mitchell scored twice in the third quarter and kept the Falcons off the board. Perry and LaPorte each scored in the period to give the Mariners a 12-6 lead heading into the fourth.

The hosts opened the final quarter with two straight goals to pull within four at 12-8. Moore and Buck scored 47 seconds apart early in the frame to breathe life into the Falcons. Over the next 10 inutes of play, AMC was unable to capitalize on scoring chances and the guests put the game away as Setzko scored with 3:35 left in the game.

Mitchell will next host Regis College on Saturday, April 23 at 1 p.m. The winner of the game secures first place in the New England Collegiate Conference regular season standings and the top seed for the upcoming NECC Championship.