Garnet Roll Past Aggies on Day One of Garnet Alumni Classic
SWARTHMORE/ DEL. VALLEY BOX
WIDENER/EASTERN BOX
CHESTER, Pa. - Swarthmore scored six second-period goals on their way to an season-opening 8-1 thrashing of Delaware Valley while Eastern University freshman forward Brian Raffle (Chalfont, PA / Christopher Dock) kicked off his collegiate career with a first-half hat trick, leading his squad to a 6-0 triumph over the Widener Pioneers in the 2006 Garnet Alumni Classic. Both opening-day games of the Classic were moved to Widener's Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium after heavy rains from Hurricane Ernesto flooded Swarthmore's Clothier Stadium.
Garnet sophomore forward Stu Leon (Wretham, MA / King Philip Regional) opened the scoring for Swarthmore in the 13th minute. After taking a Ladule Lako Lo Sarah '09 (Davis, CA / Claremont) feed a good 30 yards from the net, Leon saw that he was open, took aim, and blasted the ball into the upper left corner. Classmate Yoi Tibbets (Sandwich, MA / Sandwich) extended the lead to 2-0 just over two minutes later, putting a rebound home.
The score remained 2-0 at halftime, with Garnet junior netminder Ryan Sutcliffe (Milford, DE / Milford) making a single save along the way.
Swarthmore's offensive barrage continued in the second half; the Garnet would finish with 20 shots in the half and 38 for the game. Freshman Dylan Langley (Honolulu, HI / Iolani) scored his first collegiate goal at 53:14, after breaking free of several defenders and receiving a Patrick Christmas '08 (Chapel Hill, NC / East Chapel Hill) feed in the open. Another freshman, Andres Freire (Philadelphia, PA / Central), extended the lead to 4-0 with a pretty header in the 64th minute.
The Garnet continued to pour it on, with Colton Bangs '07 (Kingston, WA / North Kitsap) scoring twice and Evan Nesterak '09 ( Parker, CO / Ponderosa) once before the night was through. An own goal by a Delaware Valley defender accounted for the eighth Garnet tally.
Delaware Valley freshman Matthew Dias (Easton, PA / Bethlehem Catholic) broke up the shutout in the 84 minute, looping a ball over the head of Garnet goaltender Zach Weimar '10 (Rutledge, PA / Friends Central).
In the Eastern/Widener game, Raffle notched what proved to be the game-winner in the 11th minute of play, added another in the 22nd minute off of a pass from Nate Goble (Shrewsbury, PA / Susquhannock), and completed the hat trick just four minutes later after an Eastern corner kick.
Scott Patrick (Harrisburg ,PA / Lower Dauphin), Jason Monte (Perkasie, PA / Christopher Dock), and Taylor VanBrackle (Eldersburgh, MD / Liberty) netted second-period goals to complete the scoring. Like Raffle, Patrick and VanBrackle were playing in their first collegiate game; Monte is a sophomore.
Sophomore Mike Dorsch (Wilmington, DE / Wilmington Christian) and junior Noah Bartelt (Sewell, NJ / Washington Township) split the goaltending duties in the shutout; with Bartelt making one save.
The second day of the Garnet Alumni Classic will start at 1:00 p.m.when Swarthmore hosts Eastern at Clothier Stadium. Delaware Valley and Widener will play the final game on the campus of Widener University at 3:00 p.m.