Box Score DENVER, Colo. – The Sacred Heart men's lacrosse team used a 7-2 run in the second half to close within two goals of the Air Force Falcons Sunday, but ultimately lost 13-10 in its second game of the Faceoff Classic at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
Senior attack Alec Dauses had a career-high five points and tied a career-high with four goals. Alex Dodge had three points on two goals and an assist. Matt Posch, Joe Saggese, Bryce Jurk, and Brian Masi each had a goal and an assist. Mike Calvagna won 14 of 24 faceoffs.
Air Force (3-2) and Sacred Heart (2-3) traded goals to start the game, with Dauses tying the game 2-2 on a man-up goal from Posch with 4:02 remaining in the first quarter. The Falcons broke the tie on a Tim Baker goal at the 3:21 mark, then got a goal from Chris Walsch with one second remaining to take a 4-2 lead after the first quarter. Air Force extended its lead to 5-2 at the 6:29 mark of the second quarter on a Danny Brown goal. Dauses got the deficit back down to two before halftime with his second goal of the game with 2:48 to go, making the score 5-3.
The Falcons extended their lead 1:11 into the third quarter as an Andrew Tien goal made the score 6-3. Air Force scored four more unanswered goals as a Grant Gould tally gave the Falcons a 10-3 lead with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter. The Pioneers got back on the board with 3:16 to go in the third when Saggese fed Alex Dodge for his sixth goal of the season to make the score 10-4. Dodge and Dauses each added goals in the last 2:30 of the quarter to cut the deficit to four, 10-6.
Sacred Heart kept the rally going in the fourth quarter. Saggese scored 41 seconds into the period to make the score 10-7. Posch then added a man-up goal with 13:10 to play to put the score at 10-8. Air Force ended the Pioneers' 5-0 run with a Christian Pung goal at the 10:19 mark, taking a three-goal lead at 11-8. After the Falcons went up 12-8, Dauses and Jurk scored back-to-back to make it a 12-10 game with 4:41 to play. That would be as close as Sacred Heart would get as Air Force tacked on one more goal to win 13-10.
Both teams had 31 shots in the game. Air Force goalie Doug Gouchoe had eight saves while SHU's A.J. Boyd had six. SHU held a slight edge in groundballs 20-19. Austin Smith led Air Force with three goals as Walsch had four points on two goals and two assists.
SHU returns to Campus Field on Saturday, March 5th for a 1 p.m. game against Providence.
FIRST QUARTER
- Masi's goal was his fifth of the season.
- Saggese had a chance to tie the game with 1:15 to go but his shot was saved by Gouchoe.
- SHU outshot Air Force 10-5 in the quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
- A.J. Boyd made a save on a Walsch shot 45 seconds in to kill an Air Force extra-man opportunity. SHU fought off two extra-man opportunities early in the second quarter.
- Danny Dowsett assisted on Dauses' goal at the 2:48 mark for his first career assist.
- The Pioneers had 12 shots in the quarter, four of which were saved by Gouchoe.
THIRD QUARTER
- Air Force outshot Sacred Heart 13-4.
- Dodge's goal at the 3:16 mark ended a scoring drought of over 15 minutes.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Senior defenseman Chase Godfrey assisted on Saggese's goal 41 seconds in for his first career assist and first career point.
- Dauses' goal at the 5:26 mark was his 10th of the season.
