LABTROBE, Pa.- The Juniata men's lacrosse team fell 18-7 in a Wednesday afternoon clash to Saint Vincent.
The Eagles opened the scoring in the contest within ninety seconds, as Beaux Wojciechowski picked up a blocked Vincent Bechler shot and passed to Jacob Wallman behind the net who ran for the goalie's right side, slotting it past the goaltender on his near post.
The Bearcats leveled the scoreline on their first possession after winning the faceoff. A player behind the goal found a teammate running to the goal on goaltender's right side for a shot from a couple yards away. Saint Vincent continued to build out a gap for the remainder of the first period, scoring four more and leaving Juniata to no goals and just four shots, including three from Kolton Black.
The Bearcats tacked on four more unanswered in the second period to carry a 9-1 advantage into halftime.
The Eagles opened the scoring in a period for the second time of the day two minutes into the third period. Aiden Duran was behind the goal when he spotted Brandon Simonini making his way to the net unmarked on the right side. Duran passed to Simonini who put away the goal from a couple of yards away. Unfortunately, the Bearcats would post five unanswered goals the rest of the period, outshooting Juniata 12-8 for the third period.
The Eagles tacked on two more goals in the first three minutes of the final period, as Wallman opened the fourth period with his second goal driving close and beating several defenders. Within seconds, Simonini made use of a man-up scenario for a back-to-goal flick from ten yards away that beat the goaltender for a 14-4 game. Saint Vincent fired back with three goals in the next three minutes, followed by a pair of Eagles goals in under thirty seconds.
Duran struck first from the right side from over ten yards away with 6:44 remaining, then Black made use of a central-bound pass from Jonathan Montoya for his first goal of the day with 6:22 to go. Simonini and Wallman each tallied on their third within thirty seconds of each other for the longest Eagles scoring streak of the day to get back to 17-8, rounding out scoring in the contest.
Freshman Simonini scored the first three goals of his career, while three goals for Wallman gives him a team-best five total on the season. The game also saw a first career assist for Montoya. Matt McCleary registered a team-high five ground balls, while Reuben Stoll led Juniata with two caused turnovers. In goal, Kenny Ward made 14 saves for a .452 save percentage in the contest.
Saint Vincent made the most of loose balls, totaling 43 grounds balls to 21 from Juniata. They also won 18 faceoffs to 11 for the Eagles, while outshooting Juniata 50-32.
The men's lacrosse team plays in its home opener on Saturday, February 25th at 4:00 as they face Gwynedd Mercy. The Griffins got the better of the Eagles in the inaugural matchup last year in a 16-8 defeat for Juniata in Gwynedd Valley. Duran scored a pair of goals in the game while Black and Stoll tallied one apiece.
