Men's Lacrosse Rolls Past Lebanon Valley, 15-5

ANNVILLE, Pa. -- Susquehanna University's junior midfielder Ryan Oakes (North Yarmouth, Maine/Cheverus) notched his first career goal to help visiting Susquehanna defeat Lebanon Valley College, 15-5, in a non-conference men's lacrosse game at Henry and Gladys Arnold Field on March 20.

Oakes, primarily a faceoff specialist, also recorded his first career point with that goal. He won a game-high 10 faceoffs (on 13 attempts) and picked up a team-high six ground balls.

Susquehanna (5-2 overall) fell behind Lebanon Valley (2-2 overall), 1-0, after the first 4 minutes, 52 seconds of the game but answered back with three goals in the first quarter.

Sophomore attack Dustin Breakey (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) got SU on the board at the 7:26 mark of the first off a pass from sophomore midfielder Jake Griffith (Wye Mills, Md./Easton). Breakey recorded a hat trick in the game on just three shots.

Teammate and sophomore attack Tim Pastore (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) netted an unassisted goal with 2:20 left in the first quarter. Just seven seconds later, he assisted on a goal by freshman attack Sean Ledwick (Weston, Conn./Weston), making the score 3-1 at the end of the first quarter. Ledwick also tallied a hat trick, picked up three ground balls and dished out an assist. He leads the Crusaders this year with 15 goals.

The Dutchmen struck first in the second quarter, but SU did the rest of the scoring in the period, stringing eight straight goals together.

SU's sophomore midfielder Luke Delavan (Madison, N.J./Madison) scored with 10:56 left before halftime, finishing off a pass from freshman midfielder Tylere Fritts (Chatham, N.J./Chatham HS). Delavan was the third SU player to register a hat trick and assisted on Breakey's second goal just 38 seconds after that goal to make the score 5-2.

Breakey scored his final goal on the game, this one unassisted, with 5:53 remaining in the second. Sophomore midfielder Billy Spack (Arlington, Va./Yorktown) netted a goal off Fritts' second assist just 1:30 later, increasing the lead to 7-2. Spack picked up two ground balls in the game.

Twenty-three seconds later, Delavan made his second goal of the game, while Ledwick followed with back-to-back goals to give SU a 10-2 advantage. The second goal was assisted by Delavan with 39 seconds left in the half.

On the ensuing faceoff won by Lebanon Valley but immediately turned over, Oakes picked up the ground ball and scored the final goal of the half with 21 seconds left.

LVC scored the first goal of each quarter but couldn't net a shot until 4:52 left in the third to end the SU streak. Fritts answered with his third goal of the season off a Ledwick pass, making the score 12-3 with 1:48 left before the final period of play.

After the Dutchmen brought the score to 12–4 to begin the final quarter, Delavan notched his third goal of the game, this one a man-up advantage and assisted by Fritts with 9:57 to go.

Sophomore midfielder Matt Weiner (Bound Brook, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan Regional) increased the SU lead to 14-4 just 1:48 later. Freshman attack Kyler Equi (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) dished out his first assist of the year on the goal.

The final SU goal was scored with 7:15 remaining by Griffith. He was assisted on the play by junior midfielder Henry Weismantel (Chatham, N.J./Chatham HS).

SU freshman Blake Middendorf (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) played 52:49 in goal and made eight saves while allowing just four goals to pick up his second win of the year. Sophomore Anthony Maiorella (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Mountain Lakes) relieved Middendorf and allowed one goal in the final 7:11.

The Crusaders outshot LVC, 38-20, and won 15 of 24 faceoffs chances.

Next Game: Wednesday, March 24, vs. Elmira (non-conference game), 4 p.m.