Rockville Centre, N.Y. (March 22) -- Led by a six-goal showing from Kenny Lutz, the Molloy College men's lacrosse snapped Assumption's five-game winning streak as the Greyhounds fell to the Lions by an 8-6 final on Tuesday night in non-conference action on Long Island. The Greyhounds are currently ranked fourth in this week's New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) Weekly Poll.
Lutz got the scoring started for the Lions with 9:48 left in the first period, but Assumption answered just 1:31 later as senior Nicholas Violandi (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) notched his 12th goal of the season to tie the game. Lutz then scored three unanswered goals to get the Lions out to a 4-1 advantage before senior Will Langevin (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) found the back of the net for his team-best 16th goal of the season to make it a 4-2 game at the half. Both first-half Greyhound goals were assisted by Connor MacNeil (Wayland, Mass./Wayland).
Both teams scored twice in the third period, including Assumption goals by Tim Roy (Avon, Conn./Avon) and Tom Guido (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport South Manor), and the Greyhounds trailed by a 6-4 margin heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
Steven Genovese and Lutz found the net for the Lions over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 8-4 before Assumption senior Gaetano Giambrocco (Leominster, Mass./St. Bernard's) scored with 4:24 left to cut the lead down to 8-5. This was Giambrocco's second goal of the season and his second in the last two games. Violandi continued the Greyhound rally to within 8-6 as he scored his second goal of the game with 3:59 left, assisted on by MacNeil for his fifth assist of the contest. Assumption could get no closer though as the Greyhounds lost for the first time this season.
Assumption senior goalie Scott Vogel (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy-Liberty) made eight saves in the first 43 minutes to take the loss, while freshman Matt Palubicki (Scituate, Mass./Scituate) allowed two goals in nearly 17 minutes in net. Glenn Greubel turned aside seven shots in the victory.
With the loss, Assumption falls to 5-1 overall, while Molloy improves to 2-5 on the season. The Greyhounds are back in action on Saturday, March 26th as the team travels to No. 4 ranked Merrimack for a 1 p.m. start at Warrior Field in North Andover, Mass.
