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The Muhlenberg men's lacrosse team scored the first eight goals of its contest with Centenary and rolled to an 18-4 victory. Brad D'Alessandro scored 1:53 into the game, and it was smooth sailing for the Mules from there.
"It was a great team win. Pretty much everybody got involved. A couple of new guys had their first goals. The defense played well. Both goalies played well. It was just a great, overall team win," Conner Burdick said.
The total team win was led by sophomore attack D'Alessandro, who scored his first four goals of the season. The Mules (2-1) have tied their win total from last year after defeating Scranton 8-7 last week to begin an early-season winning streak. The team's 13 assists set a school record, breaking the old mark of 11 set in 1975 against Swarthmore. The 14-goal advantage is the biggest in 11 years.
Jason Mertz had a pair of goals and assists, Burdick scored for the second game in a row after getting his first career goal vs. Scranton, while freshman Joey Hess scored his first career goal with 5:55 to go in the fourth quarter.
When the young guys get on the board for the first time in their career, it always provides a big spark for the team, coaches and fans, according to Burdick.
"When I threw it up to Joey and he scored, it was awesome. I was jumping up and down. The whole bench was jumping up and down. It's so awesome to see the young guys get their first goal knowing how hard they have been working," Burdick, who assisted on Hess' first goal, said. "When the kids who might not get much time the rest of the season are in, everybody is hootin' and hollerin', especially when those kids are scoring goals and making plays."
Hess added another with three seconds left on an assist from defenseman Louie Bellucci, who recorded his first career point. Ty Weisberg was the final multiple goal-scorer with a pair. Pat Farrell and Connor Winter dished out two assists apiece. Adam Schlauch and Kyle Larkin split the game in net, with Schlauch starting, getting the win and making three saves and Larkin stopping two in the second half.
On defense, sophomore Tom Kellerman had a standout game, scooping eight ground balls and causing four Centenary turnovers, both game highs. The Mules had half as many turnovers as the Cyclones (24-12) and owned the ground ball battle, 40-23.
In the faceoff X, Jake Solomon went 13-for-20 with five ground balls. Off of those faceoff wins, Muhlenberg controlled the ball for the majority of the game, dominating in the shots category, 62-13.
Centenary (1-2) did make a small push to get the score to 12-4 midway through the third quarter, but Muhlenberg closed the game out with six straight goals, using rapid ball movement in the Cyclones' end.
"I'd say we moved the ball really well. We adjusted to their zone well. When they dropped into zone we were running by their guys for goals. Executing our zone offense well helped us score from pretty much anywhere on the field," Burdick (pictured at left) said. "We have to keep working hard and keep playing as a team. We need to continue to focus on the positives and just keep rolling."
The snowstorm this past week forced the Mules to move this game from Wednesday and bump the game scheduled against St. Mary's (Md.) to a later date. It was evident on Sunday, where the temperature stood at what felt like a sweltering 48, that men's lacrosse was ecstatic to just be back on the field playing after an eight-day layoff.
"We had a crazy week. We thought we were going to go to Maryland and then we didn't. We were practicing inside, outside or at Lafayette. It was good to just get all the distractions out of the way and just play," Burdick said.
