OWINGS MILLS, Md. - The 11th-ranked Dickinson College men's lacrosse team got a game-high four goals from first-year Matt Thurston including one with 1:47 left in the contest to stave off the upset-minded 16th-ranked Stevenson University Mustangs by a final of 11-10 on day one of the Mustang Classic at Mustang Stadium.

The Red and White had a couple of early chances to take the lead, but Matt Thurston rang the iron, and Sascha Gannon was stopped by Marc Poust. Stevenson threw a lot towards Patrick Scarborough in cage, however, he was only tasked with making one save turning away Ryan Coleman. He got revenge at the 10:23 mark as he slipped a low shot past the keeper. DC came right back down the field and leveled the game with a tally from Owen Porter. Unfortunately, the Mustangs scored the final two of the period to grab a 3-1 lead after one. 

Dickinson chipped away at the deficit just 40-ticks into the second when Will Farrell ripped one to the back of the cage. The Devils thought they had tied things back up with a shot from Skyler Schluter off a rebound of a James Isaacson shot, but Poust got down on all fours and kept the rock short of the line. Just over six minutes into the frame the Devils would solve Poust again with Schluter taking a nice feed from Thurston to tie the game. The Red and White took their first lead of the night with 6:56 to play when Sam Campbell tracked down a loose ball and launched a long pass to Thurston for the 4-3 edge. The shots dried up for both sides over the next couple of minutes before Poust made an outstanding stop on Tucker Booth with led to Cam Leydig scoring at the other making it 4-4. The Mustangs got another goal in the final ten seconds of a quarter thanks to Shane Ford for the 5-4 lead at the half.

Both teams traded early markers in the third with Ford taking advantage of a DC turnover before Teddy Macfarlane caused one of his own and found Thurston in transition to pull back within one 6-5. The Devils tied the game in an unusual way as Poust shutdown the short-stick of Jake Giotto, but the rebound bounced out to the long-pole of Capp Reynolds who stuck it in the net. The home answered right back through Nolan Enneguess to reclaim a 7-6 edge with 9:10 to play. As was the case all night the other team had the immediate response as Schluter hit Porter across the crease to level the score, however, Josh Brannan came right back to retake the lead. After the Mustangs pushed the advantage to two Farrell stung the top right corner to cut the deficit to just 9-8. This time it was Dickinson who got the late marker with Thurston hitting the back of the net for the 9-9 score through three.     

Stevenson grabbed the lead early in the fourth as Lucas Ingley finished off a nice pass from Ford late in the shot clock. Dickinson had four of the ensuing five shot, but could not best Poust. However, after Scarborough intercepted a pass the ball found its way to Schluter and then Porter to make it 10-10 with 3:29 left. The same combination struck again just over a minute later to move the Devils in front for good. Stevenson got one last look with three seconds left, but Mitchell Lachman rolled a weak one into Scarborough to wrap things up.  

Red Devil Leaders

Goals - Thurston (4), Porter (3), Farrell (2)

Assists - Schluter (3)

Groundballs - Peter O'Sullivan (6), Cam Battisti, Seamus McCloskey, and Scarborough (4)

Saves - Scarborough (12)

Mustang Leaders

Goals - Ford (3), Brannan and Leydig (2)

Assists - Jack Scaliti (2)

Groundballs - Nicholas Mulvey (4)

Saves - Poust (11)

Up Next

Dickinson (6-0) will go right back to work tomorrow at 6 p.m. when they take on the 18th-ranked Big Red of Denison University on day two of the Mustang Classic.