BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – The LIU Post men's lacrosse team had another outstanding showing to begin the 2019 season, knocking off No. 11/14 Saint Anselm College, 15-10 on a cool February afternoon at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium.
The Green and Gold never trailed in the contest, taking the lead just 31 seconds into the first quarter on tally by freshman
Jake Gillis. Just 65 seconds later, Gillis doubled the lead with his seventh goal of the season. After the Hawks got on the board, LIU Post scored four unanswered goals to close out the opening period and five unanswered goals overall to take a 7-1 advantage early in the second quarter.
The visiting Hawks put together a mini run to make things interesting, coming within two goals (7-5) just over three minutes into the second half. 25 seconds later, senior
Frank Ranfone snapped the run and junior
Alex Russell netted a man up goal 12 seconds after that to put LIU Post back ahead, 9-5. Saint Anselm fought back to make it a one-goal game (10-9) at the 3:42 mark of the period, but it was as close as they could get the rest of the way. The Green and Gold put together a 4-0 burst to take a 14-9 lead, and the two sides traded a goal apiece to close out the contest as the No. 5/6 Pioneers improved to 2-0 on the season with the victory.
Gillis led all players with four goals on the afternoon, while junior
Mike Kadnar added three tallies. Redshirt-junior
Thomas Liantonio led the Pioneers with six total points, scoring once and dishing out five assists.
Senior netminder
Bryan Ochs was phenomenal between the pipes, making a career-high 18 saves on the day to earn his second victory.
Despite LIU Post seemingly having control all afternoon, the Hawks held a slight 44-39 advantage in shot attempts and a 28-24 edge in shots on goal. The Pioneers dominated the ground game for the second-consecutive contest, holding a 45-28 advantage in ground balls and senior
Connor Farrell finished 25-for-28 (.892) in the face-off circle, collecting a game-high 24 ground balls.
LIU Post continues its home stand to open the season on Saturday, March 2 when the Pioneers host No. 15/15 Pace University at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium at 1:00 p.m.