Second Half Comeback Gives Men's Lacrosse First Victory

Second Half Comeback Gives Men's Lacrosse First Victory

MARCY, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Men's Lacrosse Team captured their first win of the season Monday night, executing a second-half comeback to clip the visiting Knights of Mount St. Mary, 11-7. After being down 5-4 at the half, the Wildcats roared back in the final 30 minutes, out scoring the Knights 7-2 to take their first victory.

Five different Wildcats put scores on the board, as Brett Gifford (Cazenovia, N.Y. / Cazenovia) and Tyler Serva (Chenango Forks, N.Y. / Chenango Forks) tied for the game-high with 3 goals apiece. The pair continued to anchor the Wildcats on defense and midfield respectively – Gifford's three goals are a season-high for the defenseman, as the 5-10 junior also scooped up 6 groundballs and caused three turnovers. Gifford's 6 groundballs were second only to Serva, who grabbed 10 while also winning 15 of 22 face offs on the day.

Also shouldering a big scoring load for SUNYIT was Kevin Gardrvits (Glen Cove, N.Y. / Glen Cove). The senior on attack scored 2 goals and dished out two assists, including a deft pass from behind the cage to a cutting Denver Babowicz (Marcy, N.Y. / Holland Patent), who converted to give SUNYIT their final goal with 6 minutes to play, essentially sealing the win for the Wildcats. Babowicz finished with 2  goals, while Jon Eguren (Vitoria, Spain / Cicero-North Syracuse) added SUNYIT's only other score.

A boon for the Wildcats on Monday was their domination in the penalty game. The Knights took a total of 8 minutes in penalties on 10 infractions compared with just 3 minutes and 30 seconds for SUNYIT. The Wildcats took advantage, scoring 4 times in man-up situations, especially in the third period when the team made its rally to take the lead.

The Wildcats will look to capitalize on the momentum with another home game on Wednesday. SUNYIT is set to host Cazenovia at 6:00 pm.