MACON, Ga. – The Jacksonville University men's lacrosse team (4-3, 1-0 SoCon) secured a statement victory on the road at Mercer (2-5, 0-1) on Sunday afternoon, leading wire-to-wire and by as many as 12 goals before going on to win 16-6.
When these two programs locked up earlier this season, the Dolphins came away with a hard-fought, 12-11, victory in overtime at a neutral site in Savannah, Ga. This game was never in doubt beyond the first couple of minutes. Jacksonville jumped ahead early and never looked back.
"We had to look in the mirror this week and answer a lot of questions about how we played last weekend vs. Duke," head coach
John Galloway said. "We named positional leaders on Monday, and they showed up each day helping lead this team. We had very disappointing moments today, but our goaltending and faceoff play gave us the opportunities we needed to settle in. I'm really proud of our close defense, specifically
Tyler Morris who stepped in to help anchor a really tight defensive group.
Jordan Young and
Dixon Smith created a number of opportunities for us in between the lines to open it up. I believe our attack unit is getting comfortable together, and that helped us gain some flow on the offensive unit."
There were storylines aplenty in Macon on the Jacksonville side.
Jack Dolan scored five goals and handed out a pair of assists to account for his game-high seven points.
Matt Stagnitta scored all three of his goals in less than two minutes in the second quarter to go with two assists.
Jacob Greiner made his season debut, returning from a wrist injury, and scored three goals with an assist.
Tucker Garrity collected a goal and an assist.
Troy Hettinger and
Jeremy Winston each scored once and
Immanuel Brown, Zach Deaken and
Jordan Young all contributed assists.
Evan Tyler scored twice to become the program's new all-time goals leader with 80. He surpasses T.J. Kenary who scored 79 goals from 2010-13.
"I would be remised to not recognize the amazing accomplishment today by
Evan Tyler, breaking the program record with 80 goals, as a midfielder nonetheless," Galloway continued. "I love that kid and I am really proud of him. We now have to shift our focus to VMI and remain humble and hungry if we are serious about being championship caliber."
Nathan Kapp was once again doing battle on the faceoff with one of the nation's best in Ashton Wood. Last time around, Wood got the better of Kapp, 19-9. This time, Kapp was locked in and handled Wood, 16-9, cementing his place as one of the best faceoff men in the Southern Conference.
In goal,
Jason Yoquinto continued his meteoric rise by making 10 saves over 53:23 minutes. He was challenged early but only allowed one goal in each of the first three quarters before getting relief from
Adam Baker in the fourth. Yoquinto allowed just five of Mercer's six goals, facing 31 shots.
The Dolphin defense forced Mercer in 24 turnovers and collected 27 ground balls against 22 for the home side. When the extra-man opportunities came around, Jacksonville capitalized, cashing in on three of six. The offense was dominant, outshooting Mercer, 45-34, and 35-17 in shots on goal.
Jacksonville jumped ahead, 3-0, by the 7:55 mark with a pair of goals from Dolan to get things started and capped by Tyler's first before Mercer got on the board with 5:41 left in the first quarter. The Dolphins answered with a 6-0 run that was closed out by Stagnitta's hat trick that spanned one minute and thirty-four seconds of game clock.
Jacob Greiner scored his first of the season out of a timeout taken with just 10 seconds to play in the half. The Dolphin ran a set that allowed Greiner a clean look in front and he delivered low to push his team ahead, 10-2, at the break.
The pace slowed in the second half as Jacksonville packed it in, but the Dolphins still outscored the Bears, 6-4 down the stretch to secure the 16-6 victory. Next up for Jacksonville will be a date with VMI at D.B. Milne Field on Saturday (Mar. 27) at 12 p.m.
