The men’s lacrosse team will look to rebound from a tough start with three out of their next four games at Sprague Field.
Photo credit: Jessica D’Onofrio
Despite most Montclair State students finding solace in spring break, mentally and physically hitting the reset button, the Red Hawks continued in action with three more non-conference games in the early stages of the season.
The run began in Rochester, New York on March 5 when Montclair State faced third-ranked Rochester Institute of Technology at RIT Turf Field.
The Red Hawks found themselves down rather quickly after RIT jumped out to a 3-0 lead and scored 6 of the first 7 goals in the game. At halftime, RIT held a commanding 6-1 lead in front of a home crowd.
The second half started in Montclair State’s favor. A pair of goals from senior midfielder Zach Schreck and senior attacker Brett Mangan cut the lead to 6-3 with 11:25 remaining in the third quarter. Rochester, however, closed out the game with 5 out of the last 6 goals in the contest to bring the game to an 11-4 final score.
The Red Hawks returned home for a March 9 contest against Ursinus College at Sprague Field.
The game featured extremely streaky scoring, with both sides going on multiple runs of two or more unanswered goals. After Ursinus grabbed the opening two goals, junior attacker Brady Wulster and Mangan tied up the game with 8:04 remaining in the first half. Ursinus would score the next two goals to take a 4-2 lead at the end of the first half.
The third quarter opened with goals from Schreck, Wulster and senior attacker Alex Hahn and gave the Red Hawks their first lead of the game at 5-4. Ursinus then scored 8 of the last 10 goals to give the Red Hawks a 12-7 loss — their fourth loss of the season.
The final match to take place over spring break was played in Baltimore, Maryland in a neutral-venue game at Sen. Bonvegna Field to take on Denison University on March 12.
Senior attacker Don Finn scored 4 goals, including the goal that brought Montclair State within one goal with two and a half minutes remaining. Ultimately, it was not enough, as Montclair State dropped their third straight game and fifth overall, 10-9.
Montclair State is 2-5 and will cap off a two-game homestand against Union College on March 19 at noon at Sprague Field.
