By scoring seven of the game’s first eight goals, the Clarkson University Men’s Lacrosse team got off to a strong start in its Liberty League opener as the Golden Knights went on to gain an 11-4 victory over Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY on Saturday afternoon.
Senior attackman Greg Gibbons (Baldwinsville, NY) led Clarkson offensively with four goals. Senior John Svoren (Hamburg, NY) and freshman Pat Sweeney (Canton, NY) backstopped the Green and Gold’s solid defensive effort in goal with seven saves apiece.
Leading 2-1 after the opening 15 minutes, Clarkson pulled away in second quarter with a four-goal outburst to hold a 6-1 lead at the half. The Knights out scored the Brewers 3-1 in the third and traded two goals apiece with the home team in the final stanza.
Winners of three straight, the Knights improved their record to 5-2 overall. Clarkson breaks from conference action by playing at Plattsburgh State on Wednesday before resuming Liberty League play by hosting Rensselaer next Saturday.
Gibbons, who had already tallied 11 goals in Clarkson’s previous two games, scored three of his four goals against Vassar (3-4, 0-2) in the second half, giving him 26 on the season. The Knights’ final goal of the game came off the stick of Gibbons with 10:34 left to play, giving the Green and Gold an 11-2 advantage. The Brewers scored twice in the final four minutes to close the gap somewhat.
Freshman Bryan Huff (Hillsborough, NJ) followed Gibbons in the Clarkson point column with one goal and three assists. Seniors Tom Ross (Adams, NY), Jon Cathcart (Homer, NY), and Kyle Alexander (Clifton Park, NY), along with sophomores Jon Furgal (New Hartford, NY) and Mitchel Collins (Baldwinsville, NY) and freshman Matt Cyr (Cheshire, CT) rounded out the Knight goal scorers with one apiece. Senior Brian Hoey (Auburn, NY) tallied one assist.
Vassar freshman Jaeryong Ko led the Brewers with his first two career goals.
Clarkson held the edge in shots, 33-31, and controlled ground ball 42-39. Senior defensemen Andrew Kott (Auburn, NY) and John Weinhold (Queensbury, NY) recorded six and five ground balls, respectively for the Knights.
Frugal paced Clarkson on faceoffs winning five of eight draws.
Svoren started in the Clarkson goal and turned aside seven of the nine shots he faced through 49 minutes of play. Sweeney came in to play the final 11 minutes and also made seven saves on nine shots.
