Box Score EASTON, Pa. – Led by five points from Alex Dodge and hat tricks from Brian Masi and Joe Saggese, the Sacred Heart men's lacrosse team opened the 2016 season with a 12-8 win over the Lafayette Leopards at Fisher Stadium Friday night.
Dodge had two goals and a team-high three assists in the Pioneers' victory. Freshman Max Tuttle had three points on two goals and an assist. Long-stick midfielder Ryan O'Donoghue had a career-high eight caused turnovers as SHU forced 22 Leopards turnovers. Goalie A.J. Boyd made seven saves.
After allowing the opening goal, Sacred Heart (1-0) took a 3-2 lead after the first quarter on goals by Masi, Tuttle, and Dodge. Saggese and Alec Dauses scored 17 seconds apart early in the second quarter to extend the Pioneers' lead to 5-2 with 13:38 remaining. Sacred Heart led 6-3 at halftime after Dauses' second goal with 0:52 left in the half.
Lafayette (0-1) cut into the Pioneers' lead with a pair of man-up goals from Connar Denhart in the third quarter, making the score 7-5. The Pioneers scored three of the first four goals in the fourth quarter. Masi's second goal put SHU up 10-6 with 6:17 to play, with the two goals trading goals the rest of the way.
Sacred Heart outshot Lafayette 40-25 for the game and had 41 ground balls to the Leopards' 28. Lafayette won the faceoff battle 15-9. Both teams were 2-for-3 on extra-man opportunities.
The Pioneers are back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 16 with a 3 p.m. game at #20 Stony Brook.
FIRST QUARTER
- Masi scored the first SHU goal of the season with 7:25 remaining in the quarter, assisted by Dodge.
- Tuttle scored his first collegiate goal with 2:40 remaining.
- Two of the Pioneers' three goals in the quarter came off Lafayette turnovers.
SECOND QUARTER
- Saggese and Dauses scored 17 seconds apart to give SHU a 5-2 lead with 13:38 remaining, capping a 3-0 Pioneers run.
- Saggese's goal was his first collegiate goal.
- Dauses scored with 0:52 remaining in the quarter to give Sacred Heart a 6-3 lead.
- The Pioneers outshot Lafayette 11-2 in the quarter, and 19-8 for the half.
THIRD QUARTER
- With SHU man-down with 10:13 remaining, Max Boyd made a sprawling save on a Connar Denhart shot.
- Denhart scored back-to-back goals for the Leopards to make the score 7-5 with 3:02 to play in the third.
- Dodge's shot with 0:02 left in the quarter was stopped by Falcone.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Tuttle and Masi scored consecutive man-up goals with 8:20 and 6:17 to go, respectively.
- The Pioneers were a perfect 9-for-9 on clears in the second half.
- Six Pioneers had multi-point efforts Friday.
