Box Score COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's lacrosse team took another big step toward clinching a spot in the upcoming Centennial Conference playoffs as the Bears (10-2, 5-1 Centennial) scored the first eight goals of the game in a 20-2 win over Muhlenberg (3-9, 0-7 Centennial) on Saturday afternoon.
The 13th-ranked Bears, who remained in second place with two conference games left, can clinch a spot in the playoffs for the second time in school history with a win in its last two games.
As for Saturday's game, the Bears honored their senior class by holding Muhlenberg to just one goal in the first half. Senior midfielder Jake Weber (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) led the way with four goals, while senior attack Mark Stratton (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) had two goals and five assists on the day. Junior attack Logan Panaccione (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) had three goals and one assist as the Bears outshot the Mules 54-30.
Junior attack Steve Mussoline (Macungie, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) added in two goals and three assists for the Bears, with Stratton, junior midfielder Rob Dewey (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Radnor) and senior midfielder Ian Moore (Fair Haven, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven) also scoring two goals each.
For Muhlenberg, Dylan Moyer and Jason Mertz both scored goals, while Connor Winter added in an assist.
Individually for Ursinus, junior faceoff specialist James Fairchild (Wayne, Pa./Malvern Prep) was 15-for-17 on faceoffs in addition to grabbing a team and game high eight groundballs, with sophomore faceoff specialist Steve Palo (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) going 4-for-4. Senior defender Ryan Ridinger (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) had two caused turnovers.
In goal, junior Brian Neff (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) made nine saves in 51 minutes, while sophomore Joe Volavka (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) (2 saves) and sophomore Dylan Pasiuk (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (4 saves) split the last seven minutes of the game in goal.
Ursinus hosts Haverford on Wednesday.
