BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – Freshman Will Snelders scored three goals and added two assists and junior Connor Farrell was dominant in the face-off circle as the No. 14/19 LIU Post men's lacrosse team stormed back from a 17-day layoff with a 12-4 victory against Georgian Court University March 27.
 
The two-week layoff showed little effect on the Pioneers, as the Green and Gold outshot the Lions 53-27, held a 15-5 advantage in face-offs, and dominated the ground game with 52 ground balls to just 21 for Georgian Court.
 
At the center of the dominating effort was Farrell who won all 15 face-offs for the Pioneers, recording 14 ground balls and topped off the effort with his first goal of the season, winning a face-off and streaking on goal before beating Georgian Court's goalkeeper with a skipping shot during the second half.
 
Snelders led the Pioneers with a game-high five points, while sophomore Nick Grassa added three points behind two goals and a helper. Senior Dylan Harned and sophomore Austin Guerrina had multi-goal games as well, scoring two goals apiece.
 
The Pioneers struck first Tuesday when Grassa scored the opening goal just over four minutes into the contest. The Lions responded a minute later, and the 1-1 score held until the first intermission, as the teams remained deadlocked after one-quarter of play. LIU Post shook off the rust to break the game open during the second quarter, however, scoring five unanswered goals before a last-second tally by Georgian Court made it a 6-2 game at the half. Guerrina bookended the scoring during the stanza, scoring less than two minutes in and capping off the 5-0 burst with his second tally with just under two minutes remaining.
 
The Green and Gold continued the hot play in the third, allowing just one goal while piling on four more of their own to put the game out of reach. Harned opened the second-half scoring with a man-up goal and opened up the fourth-quarter scoring as well on the man advantage. Just seven seconds later, Farrell scored the fourth of his career when he won the ensuing face-off and beat the defense downfield for the tally, giving the Pioneers the 12-4 victory.
 
East Coast Conference play begins on Saturday, March 31 for LIU Post as the team travels to Roberts Wesleyan College for a battle with the Redhawks at 12:00 p.m.