Box Score CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Led by junior Michael Traub (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) and sophomore Mitch Turley (Westfield, Ind.) with two goals apiece, the MIT men's lacrosse team earned a 12-8 victory in their season opener against Emmanuel College on Wednesday afternoon at Steinbrenner Stadium.
MIT (1-0) used ten different goal scorers in the contest which included sophomore Graham Davis (Crofton, Md.), who extended his scoring streak to 18 straight games and freshman Jake Stein (Vienna, Va.), who potted his first career marker in his collegiate debut. Emmanuel (0-3) was paced by senior Justin Kelly (Collegeville, Pa.) who scored four times alongside an assist for five points, while classmate Chris Curtis (Ashland, Mass.) scored twice and scooped up a game-high six ground balls for the visiting Saints.
Cardinal and Gray senior goalkeeper Eric Bartell (San Diego, Calif.) made 16 saves in the opener, while in his season debut sophomore
Austin Rosenberg (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) allowed 12 goals and stopped the ball 15 times for the Saints.
The Engineers outscored the Saints 4-1 in each of the first two quarters as MIT led 8-2 at the break. Turley got the scoring going and added his second to end the 4-0 spurt in the first, while senior Jonah Hessels (Laytonsville, Md.) and sophomore David Klee (East Greenbush, N.Y.) added single markers before Emmanuel could get on the board. Junior Tony Cibelli (Westboro, Mass.) potted Emmanuel's first goal with 2:16 to play in the opening quarter that put the visitors in the scoring column.
Traub, Stein, Davis and senior Paul Orrson(Baltimore, Md.) accounted for the Engineers' offense in the second quarter, while Kelly scored a man-down goal (10:32) for the Saints' only marker of the frame as MIT led 8-2 at the break.
Emmanuel climbed back into the contest with four straight goals to open the second half. Kelly scored twice, while Cibelli and junior
Donnie Litzelman (Stratham, N.H.) sparked the run for the Saints that lasted over ten minutes. With the score now 8-6, still in favor of MIT, senior John Kramer (Glastonbury, Conn.) planted a man-advantage goal and junior Harris Stolzenberg(Weston, Fla.) added a tally the feed by Hessels that made the score 10-6 after three.
That was as close as Emmanuel would get as MIT senior Luke Verdi (Middletown, Md.) notched an empty net insurance goal on the man advantage to put the game away and made the final score 12-8.
Engineers' freshman Aubrey Toland (Princeton, N.J.) picked up five ground balls and caused three turnovers, while Kramer caused three turnovers of his own to lead the Cardinal and Gray defensive efforts. Classmate Mitchell Galer (Westlake Village, Calif.) went 11-for-23 at the face-off X, while Saints' senior
Tony Marcella (North Bridgeton, Maine) was 10-for-21 on face-offs this afternoon.
MIT returns to action on Saturday, March 5 with a trip to Skidmore College at 2:00 p.m., while Emmanuel heads to South Carolina for a Spring Break matchup with Alfred University on Monday, March 7 at 1:00 p.m.
