ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – Senior Charles Geraghty (Norwich, Vt.) netted two first-period goals and senior James Peters (Medway, Mass.) added another give the Hawks an early lead, but the Saint Anselm men's lacrosse team opened its 2014-15 campaign Saturday afternoon with a 17-6 loss to Molloy College at the Dean G. Skelos Sports Complex on Long Island.
It was the first game of the season for both teams, who battled 20-degree temperatures and an icy breeze Saturday afternoon. With the win, Molloy moved to 1-0 on the year and Saint Anselm fell to 0-1.
The Lions started hot out of the gate, posting the game-opening goal just 55 seconds after the opening faceoff, then added another at the 12:55 mark to sprint out to a quick 2-0 lead. However, Saint Anselm would warm up quickly and respond with the next three tallies to snag a one-goal lead at the first quarter break. Geraghty's season-opening score came at the 7:12 mark of the period to cut the deficit in half, then Peters and Geraghty each added another in the closing 41 seconds of the first frame with a man-up advantage to pick up a bit of momentum.
That momentum was pretty well squashed in the second period by a suffocating Lions defense that gave up just one Saint Anselm shot on goal. Molloy was able to beat Saint Anselm junior goaltender James O'Neill (East Walpole, Mass.) six more times before the half and never looked back en route to a dominant 11-goal season-opening victory.
Geraghty completed a season-opening hat-trick performance at the 9:02 mark of the third period from an assist from senior midfielder Andy Budz (Williamstown, Mass.) on a man-up chance. Sophomore midfielder Alexander Pacitti (Foxboro, Mass.) also got into the scorebook with a put-away three minutes later for his first goal of the season. Senior attacker Geoff Kennedy (Gloucester, Mass.) capped off the Hawks' scoring with a goal at the 3:23 mark in the fourth quarter.
O'Neill took the loss in his first start of the season, picking up eight saves on the afternoon. Molloy's Ryan Toomey secured the win by recording 10 saves on 16 Saint Anselm shots on goal.
Saint Anselm will take a brief hiatus, hoping the turf at Grappone Stadium will thaw out a bit, before returning to action with three straight home games in the month of March. The Hawks entertain Mercy on Wednesday, March 4 before closing out its non-conference schedule on Tuesday, March 10 against New York Institute of Technology—both of which are 4 p.m. matchups. The Hawks will then dive into Northeast-10 Conference play with a home matchup against Adelphi on Saturday, March 14 at Grappone Stadium.
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