March 18, 2008

Final Stats

Louisville, KY - The Wagner College men's lacrosse received goals from four different players and battled Bellarmine on near-even terms throughout the game before falling by a 7-4 count in a game played in rainy, wind-swept conditions.

With the win, Bellarmine improved to 6-1 on the season while the Seahawks fell to 0-6.

T his game was close and competitive throughout, thanks in large measure to the find goalie play turned in by junior Brandon Waszak (Fredrick, MD/Linganore), who came up with 21 saves for the Seahawks. Neither team managed a score in the first period, due in part to the elements. Adam Gardner, Bellarmine's leading scorer, finally broke the ice with just under six minutes remaining in the second period. Just over a minute later, Andrew Wolford scored a goal of his own after assisting on Gardner's tally, to give the Knights a 2-0 edge.

From this point forward, both teams exchanged goals for nearly the remainder of the game as neither team could take full control. Sophomore midfielder Sean Travis (Calverton, NY/Riverhead) scored Wagner's first goal with 3:39 left in the half before the Knights responded with a man-up goal with just over two minutes left in the half to put Bellarmine up 3-1 heading into the break.

In the second half, senior midfielder Mike Hess (Potomac, MD/The Heights School) found the net just 41 seconds in for Wagner, but Derek Hopcroft's sidearm shot from the left wing 18 seconds later made it 4-2. Wagner again drew to within one goal, at 4-3, when freshman midfielder Will Macumber (Manorville, NY/Eastport South Manor) brought the ball in from the end line after an errant shot and ran directly to the goal before spinning and firing home the score. For Macumber, it was his eighth goal of the season, which tied him with junior attack Jeff Policicchio (Novi, MI/ Novi) for team-high honors.

The Seahawks were still down by a 4-3 count heading into the fourth quarter but Bellarmine would outscore Wagner 3-1 in the decisive final period. Highlighting that run was a goal by Matthew Holland at the 13:45 mark. Wagner would score once more, to cut the deficit to 5-4 on a goal by senior midfielder Ryan Martin (Florham Park, NJ/Bayley Ellard) with 11:47 left in the game, but the Knights tacked on two more tallies in fashioning the 7-4 win.

Bellarmine out-shot Wagner 48-27 and led in ground balls by a 37-22 margin.

Wagner returns home to face Mount St. Mary's on Sat., March 22. The Wagner-Mount game is slated for 3:00 pm and is the second game of a doubleheader as the Wagner women's team will host Robert Morris in its NEC opener at Noon.