IMMACULATA, Pa. – The Neumann University men's lacrosse team bounced back from a pair of tough losses last week with a comprehensive victory over host Immaculata University, clinching home-field advantage in the first round of the Atlantic East Conference playoffs with a 22-7 victory.

Rich Marshall (6 g, 2 a) paced the Knights with an eight point day, while Drew Conlon (3 g, 4 a), Mike Kiley (3 g, 3 a) and Wyatt Belotti (4 g, 1 a) were also outstanding in the attack. John McGrath was dominant on draws, winning 16-of-21 on the day while also leading the team with eight ground balls. Jake Marchiafava was stellar in goal, stopping 12 shots to earn his 10^th win of the season.

In a battle for home-field advantage in the first round of the Atlantic East Conference playoffs this coming weekend, the Knights wasted no time drawing first blood. Belotti and Marshall scored within the first two minutes of the start of the contest, giving Neumann a 2-0 lead with 13:12 remaining in the first frame. The Mighty Macs responded with a goal at 10:19 to make it 2-1, but two more Marshall tallies to complete his first quarter hat-trick sent the game to the second stanza with the score 4-1 in favor of the visitors.

Neumann then blew the game wide-open to start the second. Using a 7-0 run to open the quarter, the Knights ballooned their advantage to a commanding 11-1 score-line. The visitors used a balanced scoring attack in the rally, as six different Knights scored in the run. Marshall added two more markers, while Neumann received solo tallies from Belotti, Conlon, Kiley, Max Nice and Victor Troese. Immaculata tried to fight back at the end of the period with three unanswered goals to end the half, but the Knights still carried an 11-4 lead to the halftime intermission.

Much of the third quarter would go by without a goal, as defense took over until late in the frame. The Mighty Macs scored two of the first three goals of the quarter to cut the lead to 12-6 with 3:58 remaining in the period, but Neumann retaliated almost immediately. The Knights answered back just 18 seconds later with a goal from Emmett Wexler to make it 13-6, then found the back of the net twice in the final 1:16 of the quarter to make it 15-6 heading to the fourth thanks to tallies from Conlon and Kyle Daly.

The Knights kept their foot on the pedal in the final frame, outscoring the hosts again in the fourth to finish off a complete, 60-minute effort. Neumann scored seven more times in the period, holding the Mighty Macs to just one goal to finish off the 22-7 victory. Belotti and Kiley each tallied twice in the frame for the Knights, while Marshall, Troese and Wexler each added one goal apiece.

Neumann (10-7, 3-3 Atlantic East) closes out the regular season with double-digit wins for the first time since 1999. With the win, the Knights will be the fourth-seed in the conference playoffs and will face-off against Immaculata again in the first round this Saturday, April 30^th. Game-time for the playoff matchup is scheduled for 4:00 PM.