BUFFALO, NY - The Malone University men's lacrosse team lost on the road to the D'Youville University Saints, 15-8. The Pioneers fall to 0-4 on the season while the Saints improve to 3-1.
The first quarter started slowly for Malone, as D'Youville had a 2-0 lead with 9:59 remaining in the period.
John Mautz III was the only Pioneer to find the back of the goal at 7:52. With four seconds left in the period, the Saints scored a goal to earn a 3-1 lead over Malone to end the first quarter. The Pioneers struggled with possession as they finished the frame with eight turnovers.
D'Youville kept the pressure going as they went on a 3-0 run against the Pioneers to begin the second quarter.
Ramsey Burnard ended Malone's drought on a man-up possession with an assist by
Quincy Dumarce to cut the score down to 6-2 with 6:48 left in the half. With under five minutes to go in the period,
Liam Sullivan scored a pair of goals to cut the Saints' lead to 8-4 going into halftime. D'Youville outshot the Pioneers 19-9 in the second quarter.
Malone was looking to turn things around as Mautz III was able to get on the board again off an assist by
Darek Smith to make the score 8-5 at 12:36.
Dominic Robbins also had his first goal of the night with 4:28 left to slowly cut the Saints' lead to 9-6. The Pioneers scored a last-minute goal by Smith with 30 seconds remaining in the third. Malone had a dominant run at the faceoff X as they went 83% (5-for-6) in the period.
Unfortunately, the fourth quarter was all Saints as they held the Pioneers to one goal by Smith, and defeated the Pioneers 15-8 at the final whistle. Malone finished the fourth quarter with a 50% (5-for-10) shot-on-goal percentage.
The Pioneers had a three-way tie for lead scorer as Mautz III, Smith, and Sullivan all had a pair of goals, followed by Burnard (1) and Robbins (1).
Goalkeeper
Andy Lopez (0-3) recorded his third start for the Pioneers as he went 42% (11-for-26) in the crease.
Ty McCort went 71% (10-for-14) at the X, and
Nick Grover went 63% (7-for-11) on face-offs as well.
Nick Sanderson led the Pioneers' defense with three caused turnovers and eight groundballs.
The Malone University men's lacrosse team looks to regroup quickly as they travel to Harrogate, Tennessee, to take on the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters on February 28 at 12:00 P.M.
