Presbyterian Gives Gongas His First Win
from press release
CLINTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College men's
lacrosse team posted an 8-6 victory over Providence College at Old
Bailey Stadium Saturday afternoon behind four points by Tyler
Melnyk.
The Blue Hose (1-1) victory gave head coach Mike Gongas his first
career win.
Melnyk, a freshman, posted two goals and dished out two assists for
PC. Sean Mulford notched a goal and an assist while Andrew Athens,
Derek Malone, Devin Pinkston, DJ Brown and Ben Ewing all tallied
scores for the home squad.
Blake Studstill picked up a team-high five ground balls while Dave
Spadacene forced a game-high three turnovers. Rookie James Cupo won
seven-of-12 face-offs while goalkeeper Jon Athens was brilliant in
the win, stopping 12 shots.
The Blue Hose roared out of the gate, scoring the first four goals
of the contest. In fact, PC kept the Friars off the scoreboard
until the second quarter.
With just over 10 minutes to play in the first period, Melnyk found
Ewing slashing toward the goal. Melnyk's feed was perfect as Ewing
blasted a shot that reached the back of the net for the 1-0
lead.
Malone, another freshman, pushed the lead to 2-0 at the 7:13 mark.
Five minutes later, Pinkston increased PC's lead to 3-0 on a
fabulous shot through two defenders.
After Mulford found Athens with 1:37 to go in the quarter, the Blue
Hose found themselves ahead 4-0 at the quarter break.
The visiting Friars would not go away, though, as they netted three
quick scores to pull within one with 9:52 to play in the half. PC,
however, would respond as Melnyk found Mulford for a goal just past
the mid-way point.
The Blue Hose held the two-goal lead until Evan Olsen converted a
shot with 16 seconds before intermission. Providence quickly
knotted things up just 1:13 into the second half.
The young PC squad would step up to the task of shutting down the
Friars. Gongas' squad would not allow another score until the
fourth stanza. Over the last 10 minutes of the third period, Brown
and Melnyk each recorded scores, giving PC a 7-5 advantage heading
into the final quarter.
Neither team could muster a goal in the first seven minutes of the
fourth. Then, Olsen brought Providence within one, 7-6 with 7:22
remaining in the game.
Two minutes later, Melnyk put the game out of reach when he took
Patrick Foy's pass and rifled a shot past Tim Finnegan for the
final score of the game.
The Blue Hose return to action Tuesday against VMI. PC hosts the
Keydets at 1 p.m.
