NEWTON, Mass. – Seniors Lucas Stralka (E. Greenwich, R.I.) and Mike Markevich (Westminster, Mass.) both reached the 100-point career mark as Mount Ida College rolled to a 25-4 win over Albertus Magnus College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse action on Wednesday evening at Alumni Field.
Stralka led the way with five goals and two assists and Markevich chipped in two markers of his own as the Mustangs put up their highest goal total since the 2009 season and evened up their record at 8-8 (3-4 GNAC).
The Mustangs scored the first three goals of the game and used runs of 9-0 and 7-0 to send the Falcons to 4-9 (1-6 GNAC).
Stralka opened the scoring and reached his milestone at 12:01 in the first period then assisted on the first goal of the night for Da'zhon Johnston (Southhampton, Bermuda) before Wyatt Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.) gave the Mustangs a 3-0 lead. Those three players would be key for the night, as Johnston registered a hat trick and Sullivan notched a six-point night with four goals and two assists.
Chad Coehlo (Salem Mass.) had five points on the night as well, four of them via assists, and sophomore Cam Hayward (Derry, N.H.) made seven saves before being lifted for Tommy Thompson (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), who made one save.
Sophomore Paul Mirmina (Milford, Conn.) scored three of the Falcon's four goals, and he put them on the board with 4:42 left in the first period, but Stralka completed his hat trick within the quarter and the Mustangs took a 12-1 lead before Mirmina struck again with 2:12 left in the half.
While Stralka and Markevich, who scored his 100th point with a goal at 5:54 of the second quarter, reached personal milestones, Alex Scata (Farmington, Conn.) and Alex Pereira (N. Attleboro, Mass.) each scored their first goals of the year, while Ryan Trinque (E. Greenwich, R.I.) scored twice to give him four this season, Eric Walker (Newington, Conn.) hit the five-goal mark with two tallies, and Kyle Ton (Norwich, Conn.) grabbed his second marker of the campaign.
Sophomore Brennan Moore (Meriden, Conn.) added a goal and an assist for the Falcons, and Adam Earl (Hamden Conn.) grabbed the other helper, while Justin Bennet (Fairfield, Conn.) went 17-31 at the face-off dot.
Mount Ida held a 76-21 shot advantage and a 61-35 ground ball edge, led by eight ground balls by Alex Zito (Andover, Conn.), who was 9-19 at the face-off dot.
In net for the Falcons, Jack Kerner (Merrick N.Y.) played the first half and made nine saves, and John Brunetti (West Haven, Conn.) stopped eight shots after the break.
Mount Ida will honor their senior class on Saturday afternoon when they host Anna Maria at 1:00 pm in their final home game of 2016.
Albertus Magnus heads to Emmanuel for a 3:00 pm game the same afternoon.