Mount Saint Mary - 9, Farmingdale State - 7
Newburgh, N.Y. - Mount Saint Mary led 6-2 at the break and despite being outscored 5-3 by Farmingdale State in the second half, held on for the Skyline Conference victory, 9-7. The FSC men's lacrosse team fell to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play with the loss.
The Rams opened the scoring only 1:23 into the contest as junior midfielder Conor McAvoy (East Setauket, N.Y.) tallied an unassisted goal. After the Knights (5-4, 1-0 Skyline) responded with a score to tie the game, Farmingdale State freshman attack Connor Dalton (Hicksville, N.Y.) registered a goal to regain the advantage, 2-1. With 5:33 left in the first quarter, Mount Saint Mary senior midfielders Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) and Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) produced back-to-back scores only 1:49 apart as the Knights took a 3-2 lead into the second.
In a second quarter controlled by MSMC, freshman midfielder Anthony Kearns (Clinton, N.J.), senior attack Tristan Earle (Millrift, Penn.) and De Meo each recorded a goal to put Mount Saint Mary up 6-2 at the break.
FSC junior midfielder James Ragland (Seaford, N.Y.) scored two goals in the first 5:09 of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 6-4, but a man-up score from Earle and a goal from Kugler regained a Knights four-goal lead.
Trailing 9-4 with 5:13 remaining in the game, Ragland and sophomore attack AJ Sandorfi (Lynbrook, N.Y.) combined for three goals in less than two minutes to close within just two. Over the final 3:20 of the contest, the Rams could not produce another shot as MSMC held on for the conference win, 9-7.
Ragland finished with a season-high four goals for FSC, while Sandorfi tallied three points on a goal and two assists. Sophomore midfielder Christian Stalter (Miller Place, N.Y.) picked up a game-high six ground balls in the loss.
Mount Saint Mary was led by De Meo's two goals and three assists, while Kugler and Earle each scored twice.
Farmingdale State next travels to non-conference opponent Western Connecticut State on Wednesday, March 28th at noon.
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