Swarthmore Lax Sinks Mariners

SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- The Garnet men's lacrosse team overcame less than ideal weather conditions and a late surge from the visiting Mariners, holding off the United States Merchant Marine Academy 9-8 on a soggy Clothier Field Saturday afternoon.

The start of the game was delayed by 30 minutes as torrential rain pounded the Delaware Valley, putting Clothier Field under two inches of water.

Swarthmore (2-0) got two goals apiece from junior attack Stelios Wilson (Moorestown, N.J. / Moorestown), junior midfielder Ben Young (Washington, D.C. / St. Alban’s), and sophomore midfielder Anthony Phalen (Needham, Mass. / Needham), and senior goaltender Frank Mazzucco (Redding, Conn. / Joel Barlow) made the goals hold up by registering twelve saves.

USMMA (1-2), a participant in the 2007 NCAA Division III tournament, struck first as Zachary Gray converted a pass from teammate Brian Flannery to put the Mariners on the board just over five minutes into the game. Midfielder Robert De Pol scored again just over a minute later to give USMMA a 2-0 advantage before Garnet senior midfielder Ivano Ventresca (Emmaus, Pa. / Emmaus) scored his first goal of the season to pull Swarthmore within one.

Swarthmore would score the next four goals to put some distance between themselves and the Mariners. Wilson scored his fourth goal of the season three minutes into the quarter to knot the score at 2-2. Young tallied the next two goals for Swarthmore, one unassisted with just over four minutes remaining in the period, and the next off a feed from sophomore attack Tyler Bradshaw (Marietta, Ga. / Marietta) just over a minute later. Sophomore attack Gavin Musynske (Floral Park, N.Y. / Floral Park) tallied a goal off another assist from Bradshaw with 2:50 remaining in the quarter. USSMA responded with a goal with 1:07 remaining to make the score 5-3 going into halftime.

Wilson opened up the scoring in the second half with his fifth goal of the season coming just 17 seconds into the third quarter. The Mariners countered with a goal from Ryan Merritt before Phalen put in his first goal of the season off a feed from Musynske with 7:02 remaining in the third to send the Garnet into the fourth period with a 7-4 advantage.

Phalen took advantage of another Musynske feed with 11:50 remaining in the game. USSMA tallied two goals to bring the score to 8-6, before Swarthmore Dave DeSimone (Ronkokoma, NY / Connetquot) scored his first goal of the year to give Swarthmore a 9-6 lead. The Mariners scored twice more, both from Brian Flannery, including a diving effort with eight seconds left.

Garnet defenseman Drew Bonessa (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shady Side Academy) won the final faceoff as Swarthmore held off for its second win of the young season.

Swarthmore’s man-down defensive unit was one of the keys to victory, killing six man-up opportunities. Another notable statistics was the hustle by Wilson and Will Predun (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. / Cold Spring Harbor) who collected six ground balls apiece.

The Garnet travel south for two games over spring break, taking on St. Mary’s (Md.) on Wednesday, March 12 and then facing off with New England on Saturday, March 15 in Orlando, Fla. Swarthmore returns home on Saturday, March 22 when Centennial-rival Dickinson at 1:00 p.m.

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