NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College scored four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead and never trailed again as they rolled over the University of Southern Maine, handing the Huskies their first loss of the season with a 17-12 victory in non-conference men's lacrosse action on Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Field.
Lucas Stralka (E. Greenwich, R.I.) had a seven-point day with three goals and four assists and Jon Berry (Chichester, N.H.) scored four goals, including a stellar behind the back marker as the Mustangs won their third game in their last four times out.
Southern Maine dropped to 4-1 on the year despite a six point day from Austin Watts (Westbrook, Maine) and a four-goal performance by Nate DelGiudice (Oakland, Maine).
DelGiudice put the visitors on top less than thirty seconds in, but four straight goals from Mount Ida by four different players gave them the lead en route to a 6-2 advantage in the first fifteen minutes.
Stralka and Berry opened their accounts in the first period, and Mike Markevich (Westminster, Mass.) scored two of his three goals in the opening frame.
The Mustangs led by a 10-5 count at the break, thanks to a pair of back to back goals within a minute by junior Wyatt Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.). Classmate Ryan Trinque (East Greenwich, R.I.) also scored, his first goal of the year, and led the Mustangs with six ground balls.
Junior Seth Wing (W. Gardiner, Maine) added two goals and an assist and long-time teammate Keegan Smith (W. Gardiner, Maine) had a goal and two helpers himself, while Jeff Urmston (Bellingham, Mass.) scored twice in the fourth quarter, in which Southern Maine pulled to within five goals with five straight tallies.
Cam Hayward (Derry, N.H.) improved to 4-3 on the year with ten saves in just under 54:00 of action.
Mustang sophomore Alex Zito (Andover, Conn.) won 15-26 attempts at the face-off dot, while Josh Murphy (Readfield, Maine) was 12-29 at the dot for the Huskies.
John Bossi (Billerica, Mass.) dropped to 3-1 on the year for Southern Maine, allowing six goals with three saves in twenty minutes. He made way for sophomore Zach Bessette (Readfield, Maine), who stopped six saves and gave up 11 goals in the final forty minutes.
Mount Ida continues their home stand on Saturday afternoon when they welcome in Eastern Connecticut State for a 1:00 pm game.
The Huskies look to bounce back the same day when they head to in-state rival University of New England at noon.