By Mel Barracato, Staff Writer
Eight different River Hawks scored for the Susquehanna men’s lacrosse team cruised to a 17–8 conference win against Goucher last weekend in Towson, Md.
It was a back-and-forth battle throughout the first half, but the River Hawks made some adjustments and only allowed one goal them in the second while they went on to score the remaining seven goals of the contest.
Junior midfielder Kyle Watts opened up the scoring with his first goal of the day two minutes in off an assist from senior midfielder Lou Pillari. The Gophers then scored two consecutive goals before senior midfielder Jake Smolokoff found the back of the net off a pass from senior midfielder Jack Gerrity to tie it at two. After two more Goucher goals, Gerrity found junior attacker Michael Hatala who scored to bring the River Hawks within one.
Goucher answered back about forty seconds later to keep their lead, but Susquehanna would bounce back with three unanswered goals to take the lead 6–5. Sophomore attacker Colton Dick scored an unassisted goal with a little over two minutes left.
Hatala then found the net a second time off a pass from freshman attackman Jack McLaughlin and junior attacker Brian Hewett notched a goal with less than a minute remaining in the period for the River Hawks going into halftime.
After Goucher started the scoring of the period about two minutes in, Watts notched his second goal of the afternoon with the assist coming from Dick. McLaughlin assisted the next two goals that came from Watts and Smolokoff within about one minute and fifteen seconds to finish the scoring for the half. The River Hawks led 9–7 at halftime.
Then senior defenseman Dan Murphy scored his first career goal in the third period, increasing Susquehanna’s lead to 10–7. Smolokoff assisted Watts’s fourth goal of the day with eight minutes left in the quarter, and then McLaughlin capitalized on a man-up opportunity with a goal of his own. With less than twenty seconds remaining, Dick netted his second goal of the afternoon to put the River Hawks ahead 13–8 heading into the fourth period.
Susquehanna scored all four goals in the fourth quarter to finish the game. Gerrity picked up his ninth goal of the season off an assist from McLaughlin a little over one minute into the period. Just over a minute later, Dick scored his third goal from an assist from Gerrity.
Five minutes went by before McLaughlin dished out his fifth assist on the day as Hatala scored his third goal of the day. Hatala was then a part of the final scoring play of the game as Dick scored with less than five minutes remaining to play to gain his fourth goal of the afternoon.
McLaughlin led with a total of six points off five assists and one goal. Watts and Dick scored four goals each. Hatala had three while Smolokoff finished with two.
Susquehanna won the ground ball battle 35-33 while the Gophers outshot them 42-40. Senior defenseman Travis Yaga and junior defensemen Patrick Donnelly picked up four ground balls apiece in the effort.
With Dick’s five-point effort, he now holds the school’s single-season record for most points with 69 this season, totaling 36 goals and 33 assists. Hatala earned his second-consecutive and career hat-trick in the win over the Gophers.
“I thought it was a great overall team win,” Hatala said of the River Hawks’ fifth straight win. “We had a lot of different people contribute on both sides of the ball that made this win possible for us.”
With this win, Susquehanna is tied for third with Elizabethtown College in the Landmark Conference.
The River Hawks also picked up an 11–8 win over conference opponent Catholic on Thursday, April 18. With the win, Susquehanna retains second place in the conference. They will return to action at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 27 against Elizabethtown.
