BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College continues its look back at the 2015-16 athletic campaign with the No. 6 highlight in the Top 10 Exciting Games – the men's lacrosse squad returning to varsity status with a win over Rosemont College.
The Greyhounds, who completed the season with a 10-6 overall record and a berth in the ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Championship First Round, defeated the Ravens, 11-6, at Rocco Calvo Field on Saturday, February 27, 2016 in Moravian's first varsity match since the end of the 2010 campaign.
Head Coach Dave Carty looked back at the season opening win.
"We knew we had a talented group but you never know how guys are going to respond when you see another team," commented Carty. "We had a pretty good game plan so we were confident but a little worried."
The Greyhounds jumped out to a 1-0 lead just over four and a half minutes into the match with a goal by freshman attack James Carroll. It took just 18 seconds to make it 2-0 as senior midfielder David Fiumara scored off of a pass from freshman defender John Polich following the face-off. Freshman Dominick Gurreri added an unassisted goal, and after Fiumara put home a pass from freshman attack Alec Oriolo, the Hounds had a 4-0 lead with 3:40 left in the first quarter.
Rosemont would get a late tally in the first quarter, and the Ravens netted the only two goals of the second period to trail 4-3 at halftime. Rosemont then scored the opening goal of the second half, just 1:21 into the third quarter to tie the contest at 4-4.
"Our guys played well," stated Carty "I think Rosemont though it would be a blow out, so they were a little surprised but responded well and tied it up. We just kept playing our game and working hard."
Freshman goalie Kurt Dick made five saves in the opening half of his first collegiate contest including four in the second quarter.
"I was just simply anxious to prove my worth heading into that game," Dick said. "I knew I was going to turn some heads sometime during the season, I thought to myself why not right now.
"I would say we were confident heading into the season," Dick continued. "The guys on the team knew it was our chance to do something special and get the program started up again on the right foot. We just felt strong as a unit and we knew we had the talent to really get the season going in the right direction for us."
After seeing the lead vanish, Moravian responded with goals from freshman midfielder Chris Klodowski and Oriolo to retake a 6-4 lead with 4:24 left in the third quarter.
The Hounds had a 6-5 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of action after the Ravens scored on a man-down goal late in the third period.
The Greyhounds netted the first four goals of the fourth quarter to pull out to a 10-5 lead. Oriolo started the period with his second goal of the match while Gurreri scored his second tally at the 8:03 mark. Fiumara would complete his hat trick with 3:35 to play, and Klodowski netted a man-up goal just 12 second later for the five goal lead. After Rosemont scored its final goal, Carroll scored his second goal after a face-off win by freshman midfielder Hayden DuPont.
"I think that it was nice to get the first win and be able to just move to the next game," Carty finished. "We set a goal of 10 wins and ECAC's and the team accomplished that. I'm proud of the guys and how hard they worked. "Next year will be a lot different. The Landmark Conference is a great conference and we'll have a lot more tough games."
Dick made six saves during the pivotal fourth quarter to finish the Rosemont match with 11 saves.
"I would consider it a great stepping stone for us, but I was more than confident that we were going to come out victorious," Dick stated after the opening match. "But in many ways, that win created a snowball effect on our season, and we got much stronger as we started to play better competition."
You can read the original game story at http://moraviansports.com/sports/mlax/2015-16/releases/20160227t6j8ab.
Game number five of the countdown will be released on Monday, July 11.