Donlea Nets Four And Mazzucco Shuts Door
Jeff Donlea '05 scored a team-high four goals and freshman goalie Frank Mazzucco made 20 saves as Swarthmore downed Muhlenberg 14-9 in Centennial Conference action on Wednesday afternoon.
It was all Mules in the first period, out-shooting the Garnet 10-4 while racing to a 4-1 lead. Swarthmore responded big time in the second period, netting three goals on only six shots to knot the score at 4-4. Ryan McKenna '07 got things started with his second goal of the game at 13:44. Gavin Nurick '07 scored his 10th goal of the season at 2:46 and Adam Miller '08 tied the score with his second career goal at 1:48.
Mazzucco built a wall in front of the Garnet net during that second period, stopping six shots to get Swarthmore back in the contest.
The Garnet (6-5, 2-3 CC) keep things rolling in the third period, scoring the first four goals of the half to build a 8-4 advantage. Donlea put his first one of the game in at 10:02, Matthew Perez '06 scored his first goal of the season at 9:36, Chris Harman '08 lit up the board at 6:57, and Donlea struck again at 6:57, finishing off a pass from Tom Coughlin '05.
The Mules (7-6, 0-5 CC) got a goal at 2:13 but the Garnet got scores from Donlea and sophomore Jay Charles to close period number three with a 10-5 advantage.
Muhlenberg and Swarthmore trade goals in the fourth period with Mazzucco stopping five shots to keep the Garnet at a comfortable distance. Coughlin notched his 12th score of the year at 12:14 and fellow senior Tim Chryssikos put in his team-leading 24th goal at 12:14. Donlea scored his final goal with 5:17 left on the clock with Harman tallying the final score, his 14th of the season, at 1:39.
The Mules were unable to take advantage of a 47-24 shot advantage, as Mazzucco set up shop in front of the net. The freshman's 12.82 saves per game ranks him in the top five in the Conference.
Chryssikos contributed one goal and three assists, pushing his points per game average to 4.27, good for a top five spot in the Centennial.
Swarthmore's next game will mark the final appearance on Clothier Field for the Garnet senior men's lacrosse players. Come out at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 23rd to watch Swarthmore take on 16th-ranked Franklin & Marshall in a Centennial Conference match-up.