FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Trailing by two goal early in the fourth quarter, the Sacred Heart men's lacrosse team went on a 5-1 run to rally back and win 10-8 over the Dartmouth Big Green in its home opener at Campus Field Saturday.

Seniors Alec Dauses and Alex Dodge each had hat tricks for the Pioneers. Brian Masi had a career-high three assists. Mike Calvagna won 18 of the 21 faceoffs he took, going 13-for-14 in the second half. Defenseman Owen Thomson caused three turnovers while Chase Godfrey scooped four ground balls. 

Sacred Heart (2-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first quarter on goals by Bryce Jurk and Joe Saggese. The Pioneers took a 3-0 lead with 9:59 remaining in the second quarter on Dauses' first goal, assisted by Matt Posch. Dartmouth (0-1) came alive 44 seconds later as Cameron Lee scored to make the score 3-1. The Big Green closed the half on a 3-0 run, with goals by Will Randell and Evan Key tying the game 3-3 at halftime.

Dartmouth extended its run to start the third quarter. KC Beard and Harrison McCarthy scored 20 seconds apart to give the Big Green a 5-3 lead with 10:54 remaining. The Big Green led 6-3 with over five minutes left in the quarter before Max Tuttle halted the Dartmouth run with a goal at the 4:02 mark to get SHU within two, 6-4. Dodge then cut the deficit to one with his first goal at the 2:12 mark of the third.

The two teams traded goals to open the fourth quarter, as Dauses' second goal of the game made the score 7-6 Dartmouth with 11:41 to go. Dodge then tied the game, 7-7, at the 10:48 mark, stinging the top corner of the net with his second goal. The Big Green took back the lead with 9:45 to play on a Cameron Lee strike, but that would be Dartmouth's final goal. Dodge tied the game 8-8 45 seconds later. With 8:13 to play, freshman Sean Patterson got a pass from Masi and found the back of the net to put SHU ahead 9-8. Dauses capped his hat trick with 4:30 to play, making the final score 10-8.

Sacred Heart outshot Dartmouth 44-15 and had 37 ground balls to the Big Green's 23. The Pioneers won 18 of the 22 faceoffs in the game. Lee and Wiley Osborne each had three points for the Big Green. 

The Pioneers now travel to Denver, Colo. for the Faceoff Classic. Sacred Heart will face #2 Denver on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 3:30 p.m. and Air Force on Sunday, Feb. 28.

FIRST QUARTER

- SHU outshot Dartmouth 9-4 in the quarter.

- The Pioneers forced eight turnovers in the first.

- Jurk and Saggese each scored their fourth goal of the season in the first.

SECOND QUARTER 

- Sacred Heart had one goal on 12 shots in the quarter.

- Dartmouth scored its three goals on four shots.

THIRD QUARTER

- Calvagna was 5-for-6 on faceoffs in the third quarter.

- Tuttle's goal at the 4:02 mark ended an over 30-minute scoreless drought for the Pioneers.

- Masi assisted on both SHU goals in the third.

FOURTH QUARTER

- SHU held Dartmouth to one goal in the final 12:52 of the game, and scoreless for the final 9:45.

- Patterson's goal was his first career goal and point.

- Calvagna won all eight faceoffs in the fourth.