CANTON, OH -- On Saturday afternoon the Malone University Mens Lacrosse team kicked off the program's third season at home vs the D'Youville University Saints. New faces meshed with returning powerhouses to pull off a miraculous comeback, finishing with a 15-14 overtime victory.. 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Final Score: Malone University Pioneers 15 - D'Youville Saints 14 
• Records: Malone (1-0, 0-0 G-MAC) | D'Youville (1-1, 0-0 ECC)
• Location: Canton, OH 

THE GAME
The Pioneers began their 2025 campaign on a sour note as they quickly faced a daunting deficit. The Saints opened the scoring a mere thirty seconds into the contest. Freshman William Fink quickly responded with his first career goal to knot things up at one a piece. From there the Saints took control and outscored the Pioneers 7-1 over the rest of the quarter, with Zac Smargiasso mustering Malone's only other goal. 

Tasked with an 8-2 disadvantage, returning First-Team All-Conference Senior, Talon Heath, looked to get back to his scoring ways. He did just that as he found the back of the net twice within mere seconds to trim into D'Youville's lead. Smargiasso scored again before the half and left Malone facing a 9-5 halftime deficit.

The Saints came out firing and quickly stretched their lead back to six to begin the second half of play. Heath sandwiched a pair of goals around the first Ramsey Burnard goal of the young season to trim things to three. Heath traded goals again to leave things at 12-9 heading into the final fifteen. 

Burnard opened the scoring but was quickly matched by D'Youville. Following a lull in the action, Darek Smith ripped twine for the first time in his Malone career to leave the Pioneers down a pair. Smith took advantage of a Saint turnover and scored again to bring the Pioneers the closest they had been since mere minutes into the contest. Heath followed suit with an epic diving goal to tie things at 13-13. John Mautz III picked the perfect time to fire home his first goal to given Malone their first lead of the contest with two minutes remaining. The Saints answered in the waning seconds to send the match into overtime. 

In the extra period, Smith caught a Mautz III feed and gave Malone the stunning victory, their largest comeback in program history. 

A defensive turnaround in the second half keyed Malone's victory. They forced fifteen turnovers to the Saints eleven forced, all while holding D'Youville to just five goals in the second half. 

DETAILS

• Talon Heath led the way with six goals and an assist to finish with seven points. Darek Smith Followed suit with three goals and a pair of assists, good for five points, while John Mautz III finished with four points as he scored once and assisted on a trio of goals. 
• Kamden Kraft dominated at the midline going 23-30 on faceoffs and collecting 18 ground balls. 
• Jake Nelson started his Pioneer career off on the right foot with five ground balls and a caused turnover. 
• Defensively, Seth Jewart caused three turnovers while Nick Sanderson and Cameron Brown finished with a pair a piece. 
• Alex Lavalle finished with thirteen saves and the W in his collegiate debut

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pioneers won't return to Pioneer Park until March 18th. In the meantime, they prepare to travel to Liberty, Missouri next Saturday, February 15th where they will take on the William Jeweel College Cardinals at 1:00 P.M. C.S.T.