Photo by Victoria Durgin
By Dan DiLizia, Staff Writer
The Susquehanna University men’s lacrosse team came up short 17-9 on Thursday, Feb. 20 in Center Valley, Pa.
DeSales came out swinging, claiming a 6-0 lead in the first 15 minutes off of 12 shot attempts. Though the River Hawks struggled to keep pace, they notched a five-of-six effort at the faceoff with redshirt senior Joe Acquaviva going three-of-four and junior Ryan Bucher winning both of his face-offs.
The second period also had sizable action, as 10 goals were scored overall, with DeSales racking up seven and Susquehanna tallying three in the frame.
Turner collected the first goal of the second quarter at 13:54 off an assist from senior middie Jack Harper.
The Bulldogs went on to notch six of the next seven goals over a nine-minute span to take a 12-2 lead with 3:53 remaining in the half.
Harper, however, scored a goal at 2:29 before the Bulldogs scored again with 10 seconds remaining and DeSales headed into halftime up 13-3.
The River Hawks did well in face-offs, winning five of 12 in the second quarter. Susquehanna kept up with the Bulldogs in the third period as well, alternating goals.
Additionally, all three River Hawk goals came as a result of extra-man opportunities, with Susquehanna going three-for-four in the quarter.
The River Hawks did their best in the fourth period, collecting three goals on seven shots. They also did well defensively, slowing down DeSales’ offense, holding them to just one goal on five shots while forcing them into nine turnovers.
Following the loss to DeSales, Susquehanna dropped a heartbreaker against King’s, falling 9-8 on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Selinsgrove, Pa.
Senior attackman Michael Hatala and freshman attackman Sean Carothers paced the Susquehanna offense against King’s, as each scored three goals on five shots.
Unlike their previous game, the River Hawks started strong in the first half, tallying five goals on 12 shots to earn a 5-4 lead going into halftime.
It was King’s who scored the game’s first goal though in under a minute, but Susquehanna tyed the score at 12:17 via a shot from Harper. Harper would also contribute career-bests of two points and three assists for the second straight contest.
The score went back-and-forth for some time before back-to-back goals by freshman midfielder Jake Turner and Carothers gave the River Hawks a 5-4 lead at halftime. Carothers also notched his first hat trick during the game.
As the second half began, Susquehanna boosted their advantage to 6-4 off a goal by Hatala via an assist by Harper at 8:34. King’s was able to tie the game less than four minutes later due to goals by Alec Martin and Nolan Reape.
Susquehanna managed to reclaim a two-point lead once again during the third period, as Carothers tallied a goal off an assist from Ouellette with two seconds remaining.
Hatala poured on the pressure in the fourth, scoring again to put Susquehanna up 9-6. King’s turned the game around, however, with four unanswered goals including the game-winning shot coming from Gabe Vansuch with 54 seconds left.
“We have a young team and we just need to get better every day,” Sophomore Mike Nevins said. “It’s definitely a process but we have another game soon so it’s back to work on Monday.”
Next up, the River Hawks will face Muhlenberg at home on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 3 p.m.
