The Mount Ida College men's lacrosse team lived up to their pre-season poll number one seeding capturing a 15-8 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over hosting Emerson College Tuesday afternoon in Boston, Massachusetts. The Mustangs, who saw goals from a dozen different players, win the inaugural conference opener improving to an overall record of 2-6 after a couple of heartbreaking non-conference bids over the past couple weeks. They are now a perfect 1-0 in the GNAC.
The Mustangs opened a 6-2 first quarter lead by outshooting Emerson 20-4 in the period. Goals by Cody Collard (North Haven, CT/North Haven), Brendan Hylan (Clinton, CT/Morgan) and Jake Davis (Chester, NH/Pinkerton Academy) staked Mount Ida to a 3-0 lead with just 3:19 gone in the quarter. Emerson responded with a shorthanded goal by Max Smith (Gillette, N.J.), but Mike Durand (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry) answered less than a minute later to move the advantage back to three goals. Dan Haber (Schenectady, N.Y.) again pulled the Lions within a pair off an assist by Josh Anderson (Underhill Center, VT). Ian Sanders (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls) and Paul Battapaglia (Clinton, CT/Morgan) found the net before the end of the stanza for the four goal lead.
Emerson got the first goal of the second quarter on an unassisted tally from Brady Daragh (Bayport, N.Y.). Three more Mustangs ripped the cords in the second period when Zach Rosen (East Greenwich, RI/St. Andrews School), J.T. Hoyt (Westfield, MA/Westfield) and Matt Savage (Peabody, MA/Peabody) all scored.
Zach Davis (Old Lyme, CT/Xavier), Billy Gerke (Essex, VT/Rice Memorial) and David Greenleaf '14 (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) all scored in the third period to make it 12 goals from 12 different players for the Mustangs and pushed the lead to 12-4 entering the final quarter.
Anderson had three fourth period goals for Emerson and Smith added his second as the Lions outscored Mount Ida 4-3. The Mustangs got second goals from Savage, Battapaglia and Greenleaf in the quarter.
Mount Ida nearly doubled Emerson's shot total with 61 to the Lions's 32. The Mustangs also cleared the ball very effectively with 19 clears in 22 tries. Emerson won the faceoff battle 17-10, and Emerson goalie Zoe Fisk (Pittston, Maine), normally a midfielder, made 22 saves in the Lion net in his first collegiate start at the position. Five Mount Ida goalies combined for nine saves.
Mount Ida will travel to Maritime College (NY) for a non-conference match-up this Saturday in Throggs Neck, New York with game time slated for 1:00 p.m.