PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The Lake Erie men's lacrosse team battled in another non-conference game on Saturday afternoon, falling 8-7 against D'Youville. Three straight goals by the Storm turned a 5-3 deficit into a 6-5 advantage with eight minutes remaining, but the Saints scored three goals in the final 6:29, including a game-winning goal with 27 seconds remaining to steal a game that appeared destined for overtime.
With the loss, Lake Erie moves to 0-2 this season, while D'Youville improves to 2-1. The Storm have one more non-conference game before moving into G-MAC play.
Game Recap
A quick 2-0 lead for the Storm looked promising, as junior Robert Weil scored with 11:33 remaining in the first period. Billy Coughlin followed suit, firing in a goal of his own just 51 seconds later. However, in the final minutes of the quarter, D'Youville responded with two quick scores to even the game after the opening 15 minutes.
Defender Nicolas Shankland recorded his third career assist when he found redshirt junior Andrew Cramer for a goal early in the second period, but less than two minutes later, the Saints answered once again to tie it 3-3. Later in the period, they took their first lead of the night, heading into halftime up 4-3.
An early goal out of the break put the visiting Saints ahead 5-3, marking their third straight score, but the Storm quickly responded with three of their own. Billy Coughlin got the rally started midway through the period, and Robert Weil later assisted Andrew Cramer to tie the game at five apiece heading into the fourth. That same tandem connected again early in the final period to give Lake Erie a 6-5 lead with eight minutes remaining.
D'Youville had some late-game heroics up their sleeve, scoring with 6:29 remaining and again at the 5:14 mark to suddenly take a 7-6 lead. As time continued to wind down, it appeared the Storm might come up short, but with just 1:08 left, Naythan Zurowski ripped a shot past the goalie to tie the game, as Painesville looked headed for overtime on a brisk February afternoon. However, the Saints had other ideas, calling a timeout after securing possession, dialing up a set play, and scoring with just 27 seconds remaining to win the game.
Notables
Despite committing more turnovers, the Saints dominated the groundball battle, winning that key area 34-24.
Andrew Cramer recorded his seventh career hat trick, scoring three goals on seven shots while also adding an assist and causing a turnover.
Billy Coughlin, coming off a 15-goal season last year, scored twice.
Robert Weil recorded two assists, already matching half of his total from last season.
Freshman Ashlen Rabold led the team with five groundballs while going 9-of-17 on faceoffs, followed by Mark Sosnowski-Cooke with four and goalkeeper Noah Beckett with three.
Seven different Storm players recorded a caused turnover, highlighting a strong all-around defensive effort.
Noah Beckett finished with 15 saves and currently ranks fourth in the G-MAC with a 55.6% save percentage.
Looking Ahead
Next on the slate for Lake Erie is another non-conference game and their first road contest of the season against No. 11 Lewis on Friday, February 27. The Flyers have defeated the Storm in each of the past three seasons, most recently by a 16-7 score in Romeoville, Illinois. They are 3-1 this season, with their lone loss coming to a familiar G-MAC foe, No. 6 Seton Hill, who outscored conference opponents 227-45 last season en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Flyers are led by 6'3" senior Paul Ruskoski, who is off to an incredible start with 17 goals in four games, including a program-record nine against Walsh.
