March 26, 2011

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. - For the third consecutive season, the Lafayette men's lacrosse team fell on the short end of a one-goal game against No. 8 Army, dropping a 7-6 decision on Saturday afternoon in West Point, N.Y. The Leopard defense flexed its muscles, holding a vaunted Black Knight attack four goals below its season average.

Lafayette struck first, three minutes into the game, as midfielder Alex Floeck took the ball and ran down field to pick up a successful Leopard clear. As the Army defense sat back, Floeck seized an open look and scored from the top of the crease with 11:43 left in the first period.

Army came back with a 4-0 run that spanned 18 minutes with a pair of goals in the closing minutes of the first quarter and another pair in the second period.

Trailing 4-2, the Leopards forced a Black Knight turnover with 56 ticks left on the clock in the first half. Again, it was Floeck that picked up the ground ball and found senior co-captain Stefan Bauer at the doorstep. Bauer gave a quick fake to Army goalkeeper Tom Palesky and deposited the ball into the back of the net to cut the deficit to 4-2 going into halftime.

Bauer returned the favor later in the third quarter when Floeck picked up his second goal of the afternoon. The goal cut the Army advantage to one, 4-3 midway through the period.

After the Black Knights regained a two-goal advantage, Bauer notched his second goal of the day, this time off a Colin Serling assist to pull Lafayette back within one.

Lafayette controlled the majority of the final period and knotted the game at five at the 9:53 mark when freshman Mike Galione found the back of the net courtesy of Bauer's second assist of the game.

Again, Army came up with an answer, scoring the game's next two goals to push the lead to 7-5 with 2:06 remaining in regulation.

However, after another Cesar Munoz face-off win, Serling subbed off the sideline and was never picked up the Black Knight defense. Serling seized the opportunity, roping a shot past Palesky and trimming the Army lead back to one with 1:45 left in the game.

The Leopards had several chances throughout the final two minutes, including a 30-second, man-up opportunity and a shot from Galione, but were unable to come up with the equalizer as Army walked away with a 7-6 win.

Lafayette won the ground ball battle (28-27), including a 12-8 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Freshman goalkeeper Andrijko Andrusko returned from injury to record 10 saves on the afternoon. Munoz finished 11-for-17 at the face-off "x." The two combined for 12 ground balls (six each) throughout the game.

Lafayette returns to non-conference action next Saturday, traveling to Providence for a 1 p.m. face-off.