Farmingdale State - 16, Mount Saint Mary - 11
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Farmingdale State attackers Tyler Rifice (Bohemia, N.Y.) and Ryan Wieczorek(West Islip, N.Y.) combined to score 12 of FSC's 16 goals to lead the Rams to their conference opening victory over Mount Saint Mary (2-3, 0-1) this afternoon, 16-11.
The Rams (6-1, 1-0) opened the scoring just 3:43 into the game when senior midfielder Patrick Cowcer (East Northport, N.Y.) scored an unassisted goal. Just under two minutes later Wieczorek scored his first goal of the game, man-up, off of the assist from Rifice to bring the Rams lead to 2-0.
In the final three minutes of the first quarter Wieczorek and Rifice each scored a goal as the Rams took a 4-0 advantage heading into the second.
In the second, Farmingdale State and Mount Saint Mary each scored three goals. Rams' midfielder James Ragland (Seaford, N.Y.) scored a goal off the feed from Cowcer, before Rifice added two to close out the quarter. FSC held a 7-3 lead at the break.
Early in the third, a goal each by Rifice and Wieczorek brought the Farmingdale State advantage to six, 9-3.
The Knights would outscore the Rams 5-3 in the remaining nine minutes of the quarter, cutting their deficit to just four, 12-8. Mount Saint Mary junior midfielder Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) tallied three goals in the third.
Less than a minute into the final quarter, Knights' junior midfielder Nicholas Graziano (Franklin Square, N.Y.) scored to bring his team within three, 12-9. But Wieczorek and Rifice quickly answered with a goal apiece to regain a five-score lead, 14-9.
Just two minutes later Mount Saint Mary junior attack Tristan Earle (Millrift, PA) would score two man-up goals to bring the deficit back to three, 14-11.
Wieczorek recorded the final two goals of the game as FSC earned the conference victory 16-11.
FSC senior goalkeeper Brendan Schade (Holbrook, N.Y.) held MSMC scoreless over the final 7:38 as he recorded four saves in the process. He finished with a season-high 16 saves.
Wieczorek posted nine points on seven goals and two assists, while Rifice notched five goals, two assists and four ground balls.
Mount Saint Mary was led by De Meo's three goals, three assists, six groundballs, and four caused turnovers.
The Rams will next host FDU-Florham, their final non-conference opponent of the season, on Tuesday, March 21st at 4:00 p.m.
(Story written by Sports Information student assistant, Dominic Suhovsky)
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