Syracuse, N.Y. – Sophomore midfielder Thomas McNaney scored four goals and dished out one assist to lead the second-ranked men's lacrosse team to a 13-11 victory over third-ranked CCBC-Essex on Saturday afternoon at David W. Murphy Field.
CCBC-Essex scored first with an unassisted goal by Derek Taylor at the 12:44 mark in the first quarter. The Lazers would answer back just 20 seconds later when McNaney found the back of the net for his first goal of the game to even the score at one apiece. CCBC-Essex would close out the first quarter on a three goal run starting at the 8:50 mark. Wes Rumple, Derek Taylor and Blake McDonald each would find the back of the net to give the Knights a 4-1 lead to end the first.
The Lazers would outscore the Knights 5-3 in the second quarter to pull within one at halftime. Sophomore midfielder Cam Horn would start off the five goal quarter with a goal off a pass from sophomore attackman Matthew Bennett at the 13:56 mark. Just 40 seconds later, McNaney would score an unassisted goal, his second of the day. Bennett would then score a goal of his own off a pass from sophomore midfielder Kyle Killen with nine minutes left to play in the half and with 8:15 left, McNaney would tie the game at five with an unassisted goal.
CCBC-Essex would retake the lead with 1:38 left in the first half with a goal by Raphael Vargas, and then take a two goal lead with 55 seconds left on a goal by Brendan Nolan. The Lazers would capitalize off a late CCBC-Essex turnover as Bennett received a dish from McNaney and finished on the crease with seven seconds left for his second goal of the game and to pull the Lazers within one (7-6) at halftime.
Onondaga opened up the scoring in the second half on a man-up opportunity after a CCBC-Essex penalty to even the score at seven apiece. Horn would score his second goal of the afternoon off a dish from freshman attackman Larson Sundown with 11:02 left to play in the third quarter. Two unanswered goals from Dylan Dooley and Matt LeCompte would give the Knights a 9-7 lead with 7:52 left in the third.
The Lazers would go on a three goal run over the last seven minutes of play to take their first lead of the afternoon into the fourth quarter. Horn would find the net for a third time after a nice pass from Killen and then with 1:31 to play, McNaney would net his fourth goal on his own. With 27 seconds left to play in the third, Sundown found the back of the nylon off a pass from McNaney, giving the Lazers the lead for good at 10-9.
Sophomore attackman LeRoy Halftown would start the scoring in the fourth off a pass from McNaney just 15 seconds in. Sophomore midfielder Jack Centore would add an unassisted goal of his own with 7:30 left to play and Killen would finish up the scoring for the Lazers on a goal with 7:17 left that was assisted by Sundown, making the score 13-10.
The last seven minutes of play would only see one goal (from Brandyn O'Connell of CCBC-Essex) as sophomore goalie Holden McDonald manned the net for the Lazers all afternoon.
Killen finished the afternoon with one goal and three assists while Horn finished with three goals. Bennett scored two goals with one helper and Sundown finished with a goal and two assists. Centore and Halftown rounded out the Lazers 13 goal performance with a goal each.
The Lazers won all but four face-offs on the afternoon, going a near perfect 25-29 at the circle.
Onondaga (3-1) returns to action next Saturday against Genesee Community College at David W. Murphy Field at 1 p.m.
