ROME, Ga. – The Saint Leo men's lacrosse team dominated the pace of play in the second quarter to ensure a 13-5 victory over the Shorter University Hawks on Tuesday afternoon at Ben Brady Field. The win closes out the Lions' season opening road trip on a high note, and advances their record to 1-1 on the young season. With the loss, Shorter drops to 0-2.
Five players tallied two goals, while two dished out two assists on the day. Senior Matt Obermeyer led the team with four points overall, tallying two goals and two assists. Michael Mastracchio and Ryan Burke each earned three points on the afternoon with Mastracchio scoring a goal and two assists, and Burke picking up two goals and an assist of his own. Matt Weller, Miles Britton, and Eric Gendron each found the back of the net twice, while Dylan Yonts and Chad Marino placed a shot between the pipes once apiece. Greg Strobl closed out the scoring efforts for the afternoon with an assist on a Gendron goal as the Lions earned a total of 19 points.
Will Cothron took charge at the faceoff-x, dominating the stat sheet as he won 20-of-20 attempts at the line while picking up nine ground balls. Dillon Affatato won his lone faceoff attempt to help the Lions stay perfect on the day.
Defensively, sophomore Dave Moore saw a full 60 minutes of action between the pipes. The Lake Mary, Fla. native made seven saves while facing a total of 17 shots and 12 shots on goal. His counterpart, JR Wellers, set aside 20 shots while the Lions peppered him with 52 shots and 33 shots on frame.
The Hawks were led by Matt Kirstiansen and Kyle Morris, who each scored two goals. Tyler Kristiansen contributed a goal of his own to wrap up Shorter's scoring efforts on the day.
Britton got the game rolling, scoring just 58 seconds into the contest off of an assist from Obermeyer, but the Hawks answered back a shade over two minutes later to knot the score at 1-1. The Lions took matters into their own hands, and netted the next two to close out the quarter with a 3-1 lead.
The second stanza proved to be the deal maker as Saint Leo shut down Shorter and rattled off six unanswered goals to pull ahead to a 9-1 advantage at the half.
Shorter came out of the break and took advantage of two man-up opportunities to cut the lead to six, 9-3, with 5:05 to go in the period. But Britton and Weller answered back to extend Saint Leo's lead back to eight, 11-3, entering into the final quarter.
Both teams tallied two apiece in the final 15 minutes of action to close out the game with the Lions holding onto their eight point advantage.
Saint Leo dominated the shot count, 52-17, as well as held the Hawks silent on faceoffs, winning all 21 attempts. The Lions also took charge on the turf, winning 20 ground balls to Shorter's nine.
The Saint Leo men's lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, February 22, when they host Lindenwood University. Game time against the Lions is slated for noon at Turf Stadium on University Campus.
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Saint Leo men's lacrosse team, fans can visit SaintLeoLions.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.
