Canton, OH. -- On Saturday afternoon the Malone University Men's Lacrosse team took on the Tiffin University Dragons at Pioneer Park. 

The Pioneers took control early and led wire-to-wire as they vanquished the Dragons 17-8. 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Final Score: Malone University Pioneers 17 - Tiffin University Dragons 8
• Records: Malone (4-4, 1-0 G-MAC) | Tiffin (3-5, 0-2 GMAC)
• Location: Canton, OH

THE GAME
Looking to continue their momentum following their convincing victory over D'Youville, the Pioneers came out firing as Eli Ciotti fired home a feed from Talon Heath to establish an early 1-0 lead. Luke Ory and Nolan Winter followed suit with a pair of frozen ropes to stretch the lead to three. The Dragons answered back but Kenny Kaiser took the pass from Ciotti and put Malone up 4-1. Following a pair of Dragon goals, Kaiser ripped his second goal of the game to close the quarter out with a 5-3 lead.

Looking to create some space before the half, the onslaught began. Ramsey Burnard started things off with his 11th goal of the season on another Heath assist. Ciotti followed suit to stretch the lead to four. Ory scored his second of the game while down a player and the Dragons finally stopped the bleeding to leave the score at 8-4. John Mautz III and Burnard closed out the scoring in the first half to leave the Pioneers up by six. 

Tiffin came out of the half firing as they struck first, cutting the deficit to five. Zac Smargiasso fired right back as the Pioneers looked to wrap things up. Ory came back down the field and scored his third of the game on a pass from Ty McCort, his first career assist. The Dragons closed out the quarter with one more goal to leave the keep the deficit at six going into the fourth. 

The Dragons opened the fourth with another opening goal. Ciotti hit paydirt two more times, including one on an electric feed from Heath who was being held in a chokehold as he found Ciotti who fired home the behind the back goal. Smargiasso, Mautz III, and Kaiser concluded the scoring for the Pioneers who closed out the game ahead 17-8. 

DETAILS

• Eli Ciotti led the way with 4 goals and 3 assists to finish with 7 points. Luke Ory and Kenny Kaiser followed suit as they both finished with 3 goals and an assist, Talon Heath had 4 assists as each finished with 4 points. 
• Ramsey Burnard and Wayne Keating each forced a pair of turnovers defensively 
• Kamden Kraft dominated on face-offs, winning 20 of 27 while collecting 15 groundballs. 
• Phillip Bell saved 15 of 23 on goal shots and finished with the W

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pioneers travel to Crestview Hills, Kentucky to take on the Thomas More University Saints on Tuesday, March 19th. The start time is slated for 5:00 P.M.


FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the Malone University athletic programs this year follow the Pioneers on Twitter and Instagram, like Malone University Athletics on Facebook or visit www.malonepioneers.com.