The Montclair State University men’s lacrosse team soared past Rosemont College Saturday afternoon at Sprague Field, scoring the first 12 goals in the game. The 23-1 win was their first game in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC), which they just joined this season.
Senior attacker Matt Haemmerle, freshman midfielder Christian Boyle and freshman attacker Jesse James West all scored three goals each for the Red Hawks to put them over the top.
“It was great to get out here for our first conference game and really dominate because it was our first game in a new conference,” Boyle said. “We are trying to get our whole team playing well and get ready for conference play.”
Freshman midfielder Tyler McCreery started the scoring for the Red Hawks in the first quarter at 13:53, followed by goals from senior midfielder Dan Bellezza and Haemmerle. They kept consistently moving the ball around to create successful scoring throughout the quarter. Montclair State had a 9-0 lead over Rosemont with 17 seconds left with a goal by junior midfielder Skyler Francisco.
A goal from West, assisted by Bellezza at 12:11, started the second quarter scoring for the Red Hawks. The team went on to net two more before Rosemont junior attacker Brandon Krausse could get one past sophomore goalkeeper Matthew McLaren at 9:29. Another seven goals were scored before the end of the half, making the score 17-1, Montclair State, as Boyle netted three goals in the quarter.
Boyle commented on how the team was able to score so many goals against the Ravens.
“We all played together as a team today,” Boyle said. “We had limited turnovers, smart defense, played well on offense and everyone hit their shots today.”
Sophomore defenseman Ryan McCoy also talked about the Red Hawks’ teamwork throughout the game.
“I think the reason we won by so much was how we practiced all week coming into the game,” McCoy said. “We were focused every day and came Saturday to play. This is going to help us going forward with the next two conference games for sure.”
Freshman midfielder Jon Lanzalotto scored his first two goals of the season in the game, one of which started the third quarter. Montclair State won 18 faceoffs in the game, eight of which came from sophomore faceoff specialist Kyle Matthews. Rosemont did not score any more in the third as the Red Hawks netted five more goals in the quarter, giving them even more of a lead going into the last quarter.
Matthews, as well as other freshman faceoff specialist Dario Sirni, both scooped up six ground balls throughout the game, and freshman midfielder Nick DeTore netted two to extend the lead even more. Freshman goalkeeper Tom Pollock made a few saves in the last half to keep Rosemont’s score to one. The only goal of the quarter was scored by DeTore.
Thirteen different players scored for Montclair State in the huge win, bringing the team’s record to 5-5. Their next two games are also CSAC ones against Stockton University and Bryn Athyn College, where they look to bring their conference record to 3-0.
“Stockton might be the biggest game of the year, and it’s more than a lacrosse game,” McCoy said. “Getting our first conference win is going to give us confidence going into the rest of conference play.”
