Photo By Logan Moyer, Sports Editor
By Matt Vargo
Records are meant to be broken, and Brennan Lorence and the River Hawks rewrote the history books on Wednesday afternoon.
The men’s lacrosse team defeated Goucher 14-4 in Landmark Conference play at Sassafras Field as Lorence became the program’s all-time leader in points scored with 187, and the River Hawks breaking the program record for most wins in a single season at 13.
Lorence wasted no time making history, scoring his first of three goals on the day just under three minutes into the game. It was the 183 point of his collegiate career, breaking Austin Lein’s previous record of 182 points, which stood for over a decade. The rest of his teammates fed off this positive energy, jumping out to a 7-1 lead after the first period with Connor Aitken, Steven Musser, Matthew Faggioli and Pat McDermott doing the damage.
“It’s pretty amazing [breaking the record] but I couldn’t have done it without any of my teammates,” Lorence said. “It felt good to get it out of the way early so we could focus on getting the win.”
That strong start was all Susquehanna (13-2 overall, 7-0 Landmark) needed as they held Goucher (8-7, 2-5) scoreless for over 33 minutes of game time spanning from late in the first period to the late third period. The defense forced 17 turnovers and held the Gophers to just 2-6 on man-up opportunities throughout the game. Meanwhile, the offense scored just seven goals over the final three periods, but Goucher never got closer than they did in the first.
“Having those guys on defense is awesome,” Lorence said. “It certainly takes some pressure off us knowing that if we go cold on offense the defense will keep us in the game.”
Despite some scoring droughts, Lorence still led the team with five points on three goals and two assists. Aitken and Jack Gaillard finished right behind him with four points each, Aitken with four goals and Gaillard with one goal and three assists. Musser also finished with a hat trick.
The blowout win guarantees the River Hawks a top three seed in the Landmark tournament, which starts on April 30. Susquehanna can also secure home-field advantage throughout the tournament if they win out, but the two toughest games are on the horizon with the next being on the road against Scranton on Saturday, and back home against Elizabethtown a week later.
“We just got to keep practicing hard as if we are playing in games,” Lorence said. “They’re both very good teams and we got to bring our A game. We need to keep moving the ball, take good shots, and just play the way we’ve been playing these past couple games.”