NCAA Lacrosse: #2 Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse (1-0) Defeats #13 Denver (0-1) 13-7 On Feb 20 After Jumping Out To 6-1 Lead In First Quarter

No. 2 Syracuse (1-0) got off to a fast start and went on to defeat No. 13 Denver (0-1) by the score of 13-7 in the season opener for both teams Sunday, Feb. 20 at the Carrier Dome. The Orange scored six times in the opening quarter and never trailed in winning its 15th consecutive season opener.

 

JoJo Marasco had two goals and two assists in his first game wearing the legendary #22 Syracuse jersey.

Sophomore JoJo Marasco and senior Stephen Keogh had two goals and two assists each to lead the Orange offense. In addition, SU got two goals apiece from redshirt junior Tim Desko and senior midfielders Jovan Miller and Josh Amidon. Junior Tommy Palasek tied his career high with two assists in his SU debut.

“Much like we’ve had the last few years, we have had different guys step up in different games,” SU head coach John Desko said. “Instead of just relying on one person to score five or six goals, we have been able to hurt people with a bunch of guys scoring one, two, or three goals per game. We like to share it, and I think we are pretty unselfish offensively.”

The Orange lit up the scoreboard early. Syracuse rattled off four consecutive unassisted goals in the first 8:01, including an interception and transition score by Marasco, to grab a 4-0 advantage over the Pioneers. A goal by Denver’s John Zurlo at the 6:49 mark stopped the run. However, as he’s done so often in his career, senior Jeremy Thompson won the ensuing faceoff and scored himself six seconds later to reclaim a four-goal lead for the Orange.

For more:  http://suathletics.syr.edu/news/2011/2/20/MLAX_0220111752.aspx

NCAA Lacrosse: Notre Dame Men’s Lacrosse (1-0) Dominates Duke (1-1) 12-7 As Zach Brenneman (3 Goals, 1 Assist) And Middies Lead Fighting Irish In “2011 Sunshine Classic” In Jacksonville, FL

Notre Dame Men’s Lacrosse has sent a message to the rest of the NCAA Div I Lacrosse hierarchy: “We’re back for more”

CLICK ON PICTURE TO WATCH REPLAY OF GAME

The Irish middie play was outstanding with Zach Brenneman scoring 3 goals. Wingers Andrew Irving (2 goals)and David Earl (1 goal), played tremendous the entire game. Sophomore Goalie John Kemp played solid with an incredible 3-shots stopped at point blank range in the 1st quarter. Some Notre Dame highlights:

• Attacker Sean Rogers one-handed wraparound shot  from behind goal cut lead to 2-1. Rogers scored again at 5:33 for second goal in 20 seconds.
• Middie Andrew Irving scored off a ground ball at midfield and drive down left side to take 3-2 lead…3 goals in 36 seconds
• Middie Max Pfiefer scored on a beautiful drive from the left side, changing hands to put Irish up 4-2. A four goal run.
• David Earl lefty shot put ND up 5-3 in 3rd…
• Zach Brenneman made a right-handed goal at 2:41 scored to make it 7-4
• Zach Brenneman scored his second goal to make it 8-5
• Westy Hopkins (2 goals) scored his first career goal to make it 9-5 on assist from Zach Brenneman
• Zach Brenneman scored 3rd goal on left-handed “alley dodge” to make it 10-5

The ESPN3 and ESPNU internet broadcast was again outstanding.

NCAA Lacrosse: Vermont Men’s Lacrosse Defeats Colgate 9-4 In Season Opener On Feb 20 (Video)

MCLA Lacrosse: Michigan Men’s Lacrosse Opens 2011 Season With A 26-6 Win Over Florida In Ann Arbor

The University of Michigan Men’s Lacrosse team hosted the University of Florida Gators on Saturday evening (February 19) in Ann Arbor at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse and cruised to a 26-6 win in front of 692 fans. 

Behind big outputs from senior attackmen Chad Carroll (Cincinnati, Ohio – St. Xavier High) [LEFT] and Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn. – Upper St. Claire) [LEFT] along with a career-high goal-scoring night from midfielder Joey Hrusovsky (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest), [RIGHT] the Wolverines open the season 1-0.

Junior midfielder Sean Sutton (Greenwich, CT – Greenwich) opened the scoring on a fast break with a quick second goal two minutes later from Hrusovsky. Transfer sophomore attackman Ryan Dutton-O’Hara (Mount Airy, MD – Urbana – St. Johns) scored on the Wolverines’ first man up opportunity for his first career goal just over three minutes later to quickly make it 3-0.

The Gators snapped back with a goal at 7:45 to close the gap to two but Yealy scored three of the next four for Michigan over the remainder of the quarter as U-M took a 7-1 lead into the second.

For more:  http://mgobluelacrosse.com/2011/02/20/wolverines-take-a-bite-out-of-the-gators-in-regular-season-opener/

NCAA Lacrosse: #14 Loyola Men’s Lacrosse Defeated Navy 9-8 In Season Opener On Feb 19 (Video)

Patrick Fanshaw scored the game-winning goal with 68 seconds left in regulation, as No. 14 Loyola came back from a five-goal first-half deficit to defeat Navy, 9-8.

Women’s Lacrosse: UC Santa Barbara Women’s Lacrosse Loses To Florida Club Team 11-7 In “2011 Santa Barbara Shootout”

The Gauchos played well at times but it was not enough to get past the club from the University of Florida in the third game of the Santa Barbara Shootout for both teams. UCSB was down only 5-6 at halftime but the Gators opened the second half with 4 straight goals to take a 10-5 lead with 14 minutes remaining. The Gauchos got it down to a 4 goal difference when junior Megan Dawe (Martinez, CA) scored on a free position shot. There were 11 minutes left in the game at that point but  the two teams traded goals during that time for the final 11-7 score.

Yesterday UCSB came back from being down 4 goals to get their game against Pittsburgh to overtime before falling 7-8. There was no comeback this time as a smart Florida team controlled the ball and didn’t give the Gauchos a chance to  make a run. UCSB was outshot for the first time this season as the Gators had a 20-17 advantage on that statistic. Even in the overtime loss to Pittsburgh yesterday the Gauchos outshot them 29-19. The difference in that game was a lot of UCSB shots placed dead center and the Pittsburgh goalie getting 17 saves as a result. Against Florida the UCSB offense didn’t generate very many shots and with the Florida goalie saving 10 out of 17 the Gauchos only got 7 goals.

“It is, in the end, all about finishing if we want our play all over the rest of the field to result in goals,” said UCSB head coach Paul Ramsey. “We played okay against Pittsburgh but didn’t finish our shots.”

Added Ramsey, “We were outplayed by Florida and on top of that they finished on 11of 20 shots to our 7 of 17 going in.”

Those numbers put Florida above 50% for shooting and UCSB at about 40%. The Gauchos had trouble getting draw controls after goals were scored and it all added up to the 4 goal loss.

“The good thing though is we are good shooters just currently not shooting well and we can turn that around with a little focus on it if we’re willing to keep shooting,” concluded Ramsey.

UCSB is 4-2 overall and finishes up Shootout play in a 9:30am game on Sunday with Lindenwood University. The Lions are 2-0 after opening their season in Santa Barbara at the Shootout with a 6-5 win over Santa Clara and a 7-3 win over Cal Poly SLO.

 For more:  http://laxteams.net/ucsbwlax/news.html?story=6681

MCLA Lacrosse: Westminster Men’s Lacrosse Defeats Cal State Fullerton 19-9 On Feb 19, Loses To Western Oregon 18-11 In “MCLA Full House Face Off”

The sixth-ranked Westminster men’s lacrosse team split two games against nationally ranked foes at the season opening MCLA Full House Face Off.

Westminster started the year with an 18-11 loss against No. 10 Western Oregon on Friday. They bounced back to defeat No. 13 Cal State Fullerton 19-9 on Saturday.

This is the second straight year the Griffins went 1-1 at the Full House Face Off. They have also started 1-1 for a third consecutive year.

Westminster will return to action on Sunday, February 27 when they travel to Los Angeles, Calif. to face UC Santa Cruz.

National League Lacrosse: Washington Stealth (4-5) Defeat Colorado Mammoth (1-6) 20-7 In Offensive Explosion

The Washington Stealth (4-5) picked up their first home win of the season tonight in a 20-7 rout of the Colorado Mammoth (1-6) at the Comcast Arena at Everett.  The Stealth scored the first goal of the night just over five minutes into the game, opening the flood gates for the highest-scoring effort for the team since the first round of the 2009 playoffs.

From start to finish, it was a complete team effort tonight for the Stealth; 17 players recorded a point and ten scored a goal.  Goaltender Tyler Richards earned game MVP honors with 38 saves as the defense allowed just seven goals, a season-low.  The Stealth completed a season sweep of the Mammoth, winning all three regular season meetings of 2011.

“Tonight, we played like the team I expected to see all season long,” said Stealth Head Coach Chris Hall after the game.  “I think the big difference was in the transition game.  We pushed the ball up the floor, opening up the offense and our defense applied a ton of pressure on [Colorado] as they looked to run.”

The Stealth transition game accounted for six goals from defensive players, including three goals from Jeff Moleski, his first career hat trick.  The Stealth out shot the Mammoth 64-45.

For more: http://www.stealthlax.com/articles/view/581/

NCAA Lacrosse: #12 Loyola Women’s Lacrosse Defeated #7 Virginia 15-8 In Season Opener On Feb 19 (Video)

Freshman Marlee Paton scored four goals in her first-ever appearance in a Greyhounds uniform as No. 12 Loyola opened the season with a 15-8 home win over No. 7 Virginia.

MCLA Lacrosse: Oregon Ducks Men’s Lacrosse Lost To Santa Clara 7-6 On Feb 13 (Video)

The Oregon Ducks open their 2011 season on the road in California and meet the Santa Clara Broncos in their second game of the trip. The Broncos lead early, the Ducks take a lead in the third quarter and in the end the Broncos prevail 7 to 6.