Men’s Lacrosse: Terror Come On Strong Late, Edge Garnet
WESTMINSTER, Md. - Swarthmore scored the first three goals of the game, but the McDaniel Green Terror scored five third-period goals to take the lead for good on their way to an 8-6 Centennial victory over the visiting Garnet on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Junior midfielder Gavin Nurick notched his second career hat trick as Swarthmore wrapped up a four-game road trip.
Swarthmore (3-5, 0-3 CC) jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead behind a goal by Nurick (9:24 remaining) and two tallies by freshman midfielder Ben Young in a 35-second span (3:09 and 2:35).
The Terror (4-5, 1-3 CC)pulled within two with 42 seconds remaining in the quarter when Kolyn Kirby fed Matthew Buschman for his 16th goal of the season.
Neither team scored in the second period as goaltenders Frank Mazzucco '08 (Swarthmore) and Ben Yingling (McDaniel) combined for eight saves.
The Green Terror came out flying in the third period, scoring four times in a span of under three and a half minutes. McDaniel attack Chris Edmonds bested Young by two seconds in the third period, scoring goals just 33 seconds apart to tie the game with 11:42 to play in the quarter. The hosts then got goals from Jared Nutter and Steve Hoffman to take a 5-3 lead with 8:55 remaining.
Swarthmore re-gained its footing and came back to tie the game. Freshman attack Stelios Wilson found the back of the net with 6:54 on the clock, and Nurick got the equalizer on the power play just under five minutes later. The tie was short-lived, though, as McDaniel sophomore Kolyn Kirby tickled the twine with 1:30 left.
McDaniel stretched the lead to two before Nurick completed the hat trick off of a Ryan McKenna '07 feed with 10:19 to play. The Garnet finished with 12 fourth-period shots, but were denied by Yingling (four saves) and did not score again. McDaniel junior Brad Baer closed out the scoring with a goal at 4:01 left to play.
McKenna and freshman midfielder Will Predun each picked up a pair of assists for the Garnet. Goaltender Frank Mazzucco '08 made 11 saves.
Swarthmore won the shot battle 37-24 yet only 20 of the Garnet shots were on goal.
Next up for the Garnet is Wednesday's 7:00 p.m. game with Drew, the first home game for the squad in three weeks.