Stevenson men’s lacrosse hosted the annual Mustang Classic last weekend with 9 other teams in attendance, all boasting a top-20 national ranking. Friday, the Mustangs took on No. 12 Lynchburg but fell short 15-9. Just 24 hours later, SU pulled out a major upset win over eighth-ranked Washington and Lee, 10-9.
In the well-fought game against Lynchburg, the Mustangs matched the Hornets in shots taken and turnovers, with 47 and 13 respectively. Lynchburg narrowly outmatched the Mustangs in face offs 15-13 and ground balls 40-31.
Top scorers for the Mustangs included Max Racich with 3 goals and Dillon Linhardt, Gavin Gossen, Jack Scaliti, Grant Zick, Nicholas Mulvey and Andrew Searing each contributing 1. Back in goal, Justin Scorese had 7 saves in the first half before Nicholas Parolin took over in the second half and contributed 1 save.
Stevenson learned quickly from mistakes during their first game of the Classic, going on to pull out an unexpected win over Washington and Lee.
First-year Hunter Bryant scored the first Mustang goal of the game and added an assist in the fourth quarter. Other leading scorers for the Mustangs include Zick, Darrell Curtis and Stephen Rinck, each with 2 goals. Graeme McCrory and Carter Grear also added 1 goal each.
The defensive unit also played a major role in the victory, causing 10 total turnovers. Ryan Quinn and Robbie Vanderklugt led the team with 2 caused turnovers each. Back in goal, Justin Scorese had 12 saves to hold the Generals to just 9 goals. His exceptional play over the weekend earned him MAC defensive player of the week.
As a major contributing factor to the Mustang’s win on Saturday, Zick stated how important this win was for the team momentum moving forward in their season.
“It felt great to get a win against a top-10 team. To do it on such a big stage gives us a ton of confidence going into next week’s game against Salisbury,” said Zick.
The Mustangs play next on Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m. away against No. 1 ranked Salisbury University.
