TAMPA, FL (March 17, 2017) — Liam Moriarty powered the Vassar College men's lacrosse team (5-1) to a 12-3 win over Salve Regina (4-3) in Tampa, FL on Friday.
The senior middie tied his career-high with six points on a goal and five assists. Eleven different Brewers tallied at least one point, with eight finding the back of the net and five dishing out a helper.
Chris Billups (2g, 1a) finished with three points, while Sam Houston-Read (2g), Michael Mullen (2g), James Thomas (2g) and Matthew Lowery (2a) all added a pair.
Lowery also won eight of 11 face-off on his way to picking up five ground balls. TK Murphy and Eric Prezioso were also stellar on defense, with Murphy grabbing a game-best eight ground balls and forcing two turnovers and Prezioso collecting four ground balls and coercing a game-high three turnovers.
Matt Boyd earned the win for Vassar with 16 stops, while Matt D'Amore took the loss for Salve Regina with 13 saves, as the Brewers outshot the Seahawks 43-28 overall and 25-19 in shots-on-goal.
Moriarty led the show early on, accounting for the first three VC goals. The senior captain dished to Brandon DeStasio, who put the Brewers on the board with his fourth goal of the season, before finding the back of the net himself to give Vassar a 2-0 lead.
The Seahawks scored the final goal of the first quarter, as Dana Studdell found Ethan Robson, before Thomas opened the second stanza with a score from Moriarty.
Moriarty handed the torch to Billups, who was responsible for the next three scores. The attack fed Houson-Read before netting goals from Lowery and Pat Gibbons, 6-1.
Salve Regina scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter. Nick LoCiero found Robson for a score before finding the back of the net himself with an assist from Joe Madden, 6-3.
Houston-Read halted the mini-run with a goal from Lowery before Thomas extended the Brewer lead even more with a man-up score from Moriarty, 8-3.
Moriarty continued to ride the hot hand with back-to-back helpers to Mullen, who pushed the Brewer lead to 10-3 with his fifth and sixth goals of the season.
Vassar continued to pile on from there. Austin Mello netted one from Peter Schiffenhaus before Jonah Tuckman capped the barrage with an unassisted score, 12-3.
With five wins on the young season, this marks the best start in program history. The Brewers have now notched at least five wins nine times in the program's 30-year existence.
Vassar returns to Poughkeepsie, NY to host Colby College on Tuesday, March 21. Face-off from Weinberg Turf Field is timed for 3 p.m.
—VASSAR—
