RADNOR, Pa. - The ninth-ranked Dickinson men's lacrosse team used a seven-goal explosion in the first quarter to build up a lead that could never be caught as they held off a late push by the 15th-ranked Cabrini University to secure a 16-11 non-conference road win on Saturday afternoon at Robb Dixon Field.
The Devils were on the attack right from the word "go" as
John McKee scooped up the faceoff and forced a stop from Cabrini goalie Connor Watts just nine-seconds in. However, DC would take the lead 20-seconds later as
Ethan Gess fed the ball on the left wing to
Will Farrell who rocketed one to the back of the net. Two minutes later
Sam Campbell pushed it to 2-0 with an unassisted marker. Both keepers would come up with a stop with four minutes off the clock as
Chris Brandau shutdown Matt Vanaman, before Watts had the answer for the long-pole shot of
Capp Reynolds. However, the Cavaliers rode that stop to their first goal of the day thanks to Austin Bolton. The home side kept up the attack recording the next four shots forcing Brandau into just one more stop. At the halfway point of the period DC made it 3-1 with Farrell finding
Owen Porter at the crease for the strike, followed immediately by
Lee Dunn hitting the back of the cage for a 4-1 edge. The Devils continued to pile it on scoring three more times out of their next six shots thanks to
Griffin Moore, Farrell and Porter to extend the margin to 7-1 with 1:56 left. Dillion McManus and Jake Schneider each fired a shot inside the final minute, but missed the mark to end the period.
Cabrini applied the pressure early in the second as they notched the first four shots of the quarter, but Brandau was there on two occasions to keep it at 7-1. Dickinson responded with three rips of their own as Gess hit iron, Farrell missed wide and then was stopped by Watts with 5:01 off the clock. A turnover caused by
Cole Schwartz two minutes later led to a successful clear which resulted in a goal by
Sascha Gannon stretching it 8-2 DC. However, the Cavs answered right back through Tommy Vaughan making it 8-2 with 7:30 left. The two sides then traded markers with Griffin Ganster scoring for the hosts, while Farrell tickled the twine for the Red and White holding the margin at six (9-3) at the 9:37 mark. Cabrini ended the half on a two-goal run as McManus and Vaughan solved Brandau to cut the deficit down to 9-5 at halftime.
It took just eight-seconds into the third period for the home side to trim the gap by one more with McManus notching an unassisted tally. Watts was determined to allow his team to stay in the game as he denied both
Sam Bunten and
James Isaacson, before
Charlie Baughan tracked down a loose ball and fired a shot past the goalie with four minutes gone. A minute later
Merrick Carey sat for one minute due to an illegal body check, but the Devils man-down unit was solid allowing just one shot by Vanaman to go way wide. Dickinson seized on the momentum recording two more shots with Farrell missing the mark, while Baughan hit the twine for the second time in the frame extending the lead to 11-6 inside nine minutes to play. Each team tallied two more times during te quarter with Farrell and Porter delivering the goods for the Devils to leave the advantage at 13-8 heading to the fourth.
The Red and White struck less than a minute into the final period as McKee got a shot right off the opening faceoff, before Isaacson dished the rock to Farrell for the finish (14-8). Cabrini had the next two chances with Mason Lenart going high, followed by Connor Herraiz sending one out of the reach of Brandau making it 14-9 with just three minutes off the clock. Dickinson continued to apply the pressure with Isaacson getting two shots, while Gess fired one wide to keep things where they were with less than eight to play. A push on
Ben Tomick resulted in a man-up opportunity for the home team, but Brandau had the answer on the two chances he saw from Vanaman and Vaughan. However, a save from Watts on Baughan, led to the Cavs cashing in on the other end cutting it to 14-10 with 5:29 to go. Off the ensuing win at "X" by John McCormick both Bolton and McManus missed high of cage, before a failed clear by DC led to a transition goal for Bolton (14-11). At the 13-minute mark Bunten jarred the ball free from Bolton leading to Baughan running around for about a minute, prior to stuffing the rock into the empty cage as Watts was out in the 10-man ride.
Jack Murphy added one more to cap the scoring at 16-11.
Red Devil Leaders
Goals - Farrell (5), Baughan and Porter (3)
Assists - Gess and Isaacson (2)
Groundballs - McKee (7),
Seamus McCloskey, Reynolds and Schwartz (4)
Saves - Brandau (15)
Cavalier Leaders
Goals - McManus (3), Bolton and Vaughan (2)
Assists - Herraiz (4)
Groundballs - McCormick (6)
Saves - Watts (9)
Next on the Field
Dickinson (4-0) will attempt to remain unblemished on Saturday afternoon when the Red and White return to Biddle Field for their first ever matchup against the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan University at 12pm.
