WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - The Neumann University men's lacrosse team bounced back from two straight losses with a big win at Lycoming College on Saturday afternoon, taking home a 10-7 victory in non-conference action.
Drew Conlon carried the Neumann offense on the day with four goals and two assists for six points.
Rich Marshall (1 g, 2 a),
Wyatt Belotti (2 g) and
Mike Kiley (1 g, 1 a) all had multi-point games, while
John McGrath was excellent on face-offs with 13 wins on 15 attempts.
Jake Marchiafava picked up the win in goal, stopping 11 shots on the afternoon.
Looking for a better start after being outplayed early in their prior two contests, the Knights were able to get just that on Saturday afternoon. Lycoming did score first at 8:40 mark, but unlike the last two games, Neumann was able to shut the door the rest of the quarter. The visitors' offense also came to life immediately after the opening goal, scoring just 13 seconds later through Conlon to tie things up at 1-1. The game remained tied until late in the frame, when the Knights used a minute long blitz to stun the Warriors. Neumann scored three times in a 1:02 span as Conlon,
Kyle Daly and Marshall scored to make it 4-1 after one period of play.
Neumann continued to roll in the second stanza, again using a quick strike offense. Conlon played a part in two goals scored 16 seconds apart in the first five minutes of the frame, assisting on a Belotti tally and scoring on his own to give the Knights a 6-1 lead with 10:15 left in the half. Lycoming got a goal back a minute later but Neumann retaliated with two more markers midway through the quarter as Conlon and
Sam Nice scored to make it 8-2 with 3:30 remaining. The Warriors took some momentum to halftime by scoring at the buzzer to make it 8-3, but the Knights took a five-goal advantage into the halftime intermission.
That late half momentum would carry into the third quarter, as Lycoming got even closer on the scoreboard with a goal just 1:51 into the frame to make it 8-4. Neumann responded with a Kiley goal at the 7:14 mark, but the offense went silent after that. The Warriors used the quiet Neumann attack to work their way back into the contest. The hosts tallied twice in the final minute of the period without reply to send the game to the fourth with the score 9-6.
The final frame would be a defensive struggle between the teams. Neither side would find the back of the net until 5:33 left in the game, when Lycoming scored to cut the Neumann lead to two at 9-7. That was as close as the hosts would get though as the Knights closed out the game with stellar defense. Belotti sealed the matchup by scoring his second of the game with 1:04 remaining to get the visitors back in the win column with a 10-7 win.
Neumann (7-3) will return home for a night game on Wednesday, March 30th versus Stockton University. Game-time is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
