NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College opened their 2014 men's lacrosse season on Wednesday afternoon by hosting Salve Regina University at Alumni Field in the first annual Frostbite Classic.
Despite four goals from Mount Ida sophomore Mike Markevich (Westminster, Mass.), the Mustangs suffered an 11-4 defeat at the hands of the Seahawks, who claimed the trophy in the inaugural event.
Salve Regina opened up a tight game by scoring six times in the fourth period and outshooting the Mustangs 31-11 in the second half. The difference in the game came at the face-off dot, where the Seahawks were 14-17, including a perfect 8-8 in the final fifteen minutes.
Senior Curtis McKeon (West Haven, Conn.) led the Seahawks with three goals and won 13 of those face-offs, grabbing a game-high 11 ground balls in the process.
Senior goalie Kyle Cordaro (Worcester, Mass.) made 21 saves in the game, keeping Mount Ida within striking distance until the late stages of play.
The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the opening five minutes when Markevich finished on a feed from Wyatt Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.), earning the freshman his first point of his collegiate career.
The Seahawks took the lead by the end of the first half using goals by Erick Backus (Mansfield, Mass.) and Alex King (Andover, Mass.) just a minute apart to get in front 2-1, which is where the game stayed at halftime after a scoreless second frame.
Halfway through the third period, Markevich and Sullivan teamed up again to level the game at two, but the Seahawks scored three times in a span of 1:27, with two goals by McKeon sandwiched around a tally by freshman Nick LoCicero (Lynnbrook, N.Y.), who also had three assists in the game.
James Fee (Massapequa, N.Y.) scored off an opening draw win by McKeon in the fourth quarter and by the time Markeivch notched an unassisted tally at 8:01 left in the game, Salve had seized a 7-2 advantage.
Markevich completed his double-brace of goals with eight seconds left in regulation, after another 4-0 run by the Seahawks included McKeon's hat-trick marker with 5:04 to play.
Corey Gelbstein (Greenwich, Conn.) caused a team-high three turnovers and grabbed three ground balls for Mount Ida, while Chaz Strom (North Grafton, Mass.) led the Mustangs with five ground balls.
Sophomore Sharp Jones (Scituate, Mass.) scored twice for the Seahawks, the only other player besides McKeon with multiple tallies. Freshman Andrew Watkins (Natick, Mass.) earned his first victory in net, making ten saves in just under sixty minutes.
The Seahawks (1-0) outshot the Mustangs 49-23 in the game and were 2-8 on extra man opportunities, while Mount Ida did not score in seven man-up situations.
Mount Ida (0-1) will be home again on Saturday afternoon when they look for their first victory of the young season against Southern Maine. The Huskies and Mustangs will face off at 1:00 pm at Alumni Field.
Salve Regina will play host to Lasell College at the same time in their home opener in Newport.