Perini, Mersey Net Hat Tricks in Lafayette Win
from press release
VESTAL, N.Y.-- Tom Pereni and Matt Mersey each
had three goals, as Lafayette (2-0) held off Binghamton (1-1) 12-9
in a non-conference men's lacrosse game on Saturday afternoon at
the Bearcats Sports Complex. The Bearcats had been receiving votes
in the USILA Top 20 poll heading into the game.
Binghamton nearly came back from a 9-1, second-quarter deficit.
Junior midfielder Frank Donlon finished the game with three goals
and an assist while senior attack Jeff Rurey had two goals and a
pair of assists. Freshman attack Matt Springer also netted a pair
of goals and senior midfielder Steve Carlson added two assists.
Meskey and Perini each scored twice in the first quarter as the
Leopards built a 6-1 lead. Lafayette outshot Binghamton 18-8 during
the opening 15 minutes and took advantage of five Bearcat
turnovers.
In the second quarter, the Leopards showed no signs of letting up,
taking a 9-1 lead with 2:44 left before halftime. Mersky recorded
his final goal during that period of play.
With 1:55 left in the second quarter, Rurey started the Bearcats'
rally with his first goal of the season. Donlon and senior attack
Andy Cook each scored a man-up goal in the opening two minutes of
the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 9-4. Donlon and Rurey
then scored 1:18 apart as the Bearcats pulled to within 9-6 with
10:21 still remaining in the third period.
Pereni broke the Bearcat run with a goal at the 8:58 mark of the
third quater but Springer answered right back 14 seconds later,
pulling Binghamton to within 10-7.
In the fourth quarter, goals by Donlon and Springer made the score
10-9 with exactly nine minutes remaining in regulation. That would
be, however, as close as Binghamton got. Steve Serling padded the
lead to 11-9 at the 7:59 mark and Colin Serling added an insurance
goal with 47 seconds left to go.
Kevin Dunbar finished with a game-high three assists for Lafayette
while Stafan Bauer and Colin Serling each tallied a pair of
assists.
Lafayette outshot Binghamton 49-36 for the game while the Bearcats
won 14 of 25 faceoffs.
Junior goalie Dan Solazzo made 16 saves for Binghamton while Vinny
DePasquale recorded 15 saves for Lafayette.
Binghamton heads to Villanova on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. game.
NOTES: Donlon now has two career hat tricks. His first one came
against Stony Brook on April 18, 2009. He now leads Binghamton with
five goals and two assists so far this season ... Rurey's four
points is a career-high.
