By Kyle Kern, Co-editor in chief
The Susquehanna men’s lacrosse team came out on top with a 9-8 win against Elizabethtown College on Saturday, March 24 at home.
The River Hawks improved to 6-4 on the season with the victory while the Blue Jays dropped to 3-4. Elizabethtown also suffered their first conference loss in the Landmark Conference since joining the league in 2015.
Senior midfielder Andrew Porzio and junior midfielder Jake Smolokoff scored three goals each in their win.
The Blue Jays took off to an early lead within the first minute of the game with a goal by Mike DiGenova from an assist by Griffin Liebsch.
The River Hawks responded with an unassisted goal from Smokoloff just 45 seconds later to tie up the game.
Elizabethtown swiftly responded 14 seconds later with another score by Thomas Palen from an assist by James Kelly to continue the wild opening.
Another unassisted goal from Smokoloff two minutes later brought the game back to 2-2.
Freshman attacker Colton Dick scored for the River Hawks off of an assist from junior attacker Jack Donnelly and then another Porzio goal extended the lead 4-2.
Dick extended the lead to 5-2 after scoring another goal for Susquehanna, but Elizabethtown would score one more time before the first half would come to an end. The River Hawks would go into the half with a 5-3 lead.
Susquehanna opened up the second half with three goals from two different players. Senior midfielder Connor Ward scored off of an assist from sophomore midfielder Tyler Lewis and Porzio scored an unassisted goal and followed up his third and final score from an assist by junior midfielder Jack DiGregorio.
Elizabethtown answered back with two goals, one unassisted by Mike DiGenova and another by Mike Scrafano on an assist by Austin Dews at the end of the third quarter to narrow the River Hawk lead to three.
Smokoloff scored his third and final goal in the fourth quarter off of a pass from senior attacker Alec Tzaneteas to push the Susquehanna lead to 9-5.
The Blue Jays rallied for three more goals over the final seven minutes of the game. , however it was not enough to complete the comeback.
Junior goalkeeper Dylan Abplanalp made eight saves for Susquehanna, including clutch save for the River Hawks within the closing minutes and even an interception on an Elizabethtown pass.
Senior midfielder Pierce Mead highlighted the day by winning 14-of-20 faceoffs, which included a crucial faceoff within the last 18 seconds of the game.
Susquehanna returns to action on Saturday, March 30 for a Landmark Conference game against Moravian at 6 p.m.