Washington, D.C.- The #12 men's lacrosse team topped the District of Columbia this afternoon, 23-3. The Lions held the Firebirds scoreless in both the first and third quarters, out-shooting UDC 57-14 to close the regular season at 12-3 overall. Molloy finishes a perfect 6-0 in conference play, while the Firebirds fall to 1-9 (0-5 ECC).
How it Happened
- Molloy set the tone from the opening face-off, as senior Brandon Pazienza collected the ground ball off the draw and found the back of the net just nine seconds into the contest.
- The Lions saw five different goal scorers contribute over the following 15 minutes of play to take a commanding 10-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
- Senior Brian Green and sophomore defensemen Liam Taylor kept the momentum going, each scoring within the first four minutes of the second frame.
- Myles Henry halted the run, converting on a man-down opportunity to get the Firebirds on the scoreboard.
- Redshirt senior Noah Hammon connected with senior Justin Palulis to extend Molloy's lead to 13-1.
- Nehemiah Humphries responded quickly for the home team, tallying the District of Columbia's second goal less than 30 seconds later.
- From there, the remainder of the quarter belonged to the Lions, who closed the half with four unanswered goals to take a 17-2 advantage into the halftime break.
- The cardinal and white's defense held the Firebirds scoreless in the third quarter, while goals from sophomore Aydan DeLiso, Palulis, and graduate student Zach Kroog extended the lead further.
- Kevin Pham opened the final frame with a goal off an assist from Amarius Sekanipo.
- Junior Owen Taylor, senior Jake Taylor, and sophomore Luke Barrera added the Lions' final three goals of the afternoon, capping off a dominant 23-3 win.
Top Performances
- J. Taylor (4 goals, 2 assists) and Hammon (2 goals, 4 assists) led the offense with six points each.
- Palulis netted five goals.
- Freshman Jaden Simick recorded two goals and two assists.
- Kroog tallied three goals, while Green added a goal and two assists.
- Corcoran and DeLiso each contributed a goal and an assist.
- Sophomore Nick Carretta dished out his first two career assists.
- L. Taylor, Barrera, Pazienza, and O. Taylor each found the back of the net, while graduate student Timothy Morrow added an assist.
- J. Taylor, Pazienza, and senior Nick Taiani each collected four ground balls.
- Senior Shawn McCabe caused five turnovers.
- Senior John Basile made four saves in net, while sophomore James Demakopoulos added three.
- Freshmen Adam Heske and Sam Feldbaum each recorded a save in the final quarter.
Up Next
Molloy secured the top seed in the East Coast Conference Tournament and will await its opponent for the semifinal game on Wednesday (Apr. 29) in Rockville Centre, N.Y.
