COLCHESTER, Vt. – An early lead in Saturday's matchup helped the Pace University men's lacrosse team pick up its first Northeast-10 Conference victory of the season with a win at Saint Michael's College by a score of 11-7 Saturday afternoon at Duffy Field. The Setters improve to 4-2 on the year and 1-1 in NE-10 contests with the win, while Saint Michael's falls to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
Four different Setters scored in the opening period to give Pace a 4-0 lead at the first break. The pace slowed down in the second quarter, and the Purple Knights were able to score twice, but senior
Matthew Cossidente (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue) scored one of his own to keep Pace up, 5-2, heading into halftime.
Pace took full control of the game once again in the third quarter. Sophomore
Joshua Kreitler (Shelton, CT/Shelton) tallied his second of the game at the 11:08 mark, and then freshman
Kevin Vogelsberg (Wantagh, NY/Holy Trinity Diocesan) tallied a man-up goal two minutes later to make it a 7-2 lead for Pace. Sophomore
Liam Brennan (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) got on the board for the second time less than a minute later to put Pace up by six. Tim Connor scored on an extra-man opportunity for Saint Michael's at 3:40, but junior
Brandon Donnellan (Chester, NY/Warwick Valley) scored once more for Pace to take a 9-3 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Donnellan scored again just 16 seconds into the final frame to make it a seven-goal lead. The Purple Knights then went on a four-goal spurt to get back within three with 5:24 still remaining in the game. Sophomore
Anthony Gadaleta (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) halted their run with a goal at the 2:56 mark, giving Pace an 11-7 lead that it held onto through the final buzzer.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Robert Beshlian (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) jumped to 4-2 on the year after making 13 saves for the win. T.J. Bicknell took the loss for the Purple Knights after allowing 11 goals.
Brennan tallied a team-high four points on two goals and two assists in the win. Kreitler and Cossidente each scored twice and dished out an assist for a pair of three-point efforts. Donnellan scored twice, scooped up seven ground balls and caused two turnovers. Senior
Matt Ruquet (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point / Manhattan College) won 14-of-22 face-offs (63.6 percent) and grabbed a game-high 10 ground balls.
Mark Yetter totaled a game-high five points for Saint Michael's with three goals and two assists. He also tied for the team lead with four ground balls. Connor scored twice, while Brian Loughlin and Taylor Wallace each scored once.
The Setters take a break from NE-10 play in their next contest, as they take a short trip to Sparkill, N.Y. next Saturday, March 26, to take on Saint Thomas Aquinas College. The opening face-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
For all information regarding Pace University men's lacrosse, log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com, follow Pace Athletics on Facebook (
T-Bone, Official Mascot of Pace University Athletics), and follow the men's lacrosse team on Twitter (
@PaceLacrosse) and on Instagram (
@PaceUnivLax).
