LEICESTER, Mass. – Freshman Max Stone (Burlington, Conn.) recorded a hat-trick to help propel the Johnson & Wales University men's lacrosse team to a 7-4 victory against Becker in a non-conference contest at Alumni Field on Wednesday afternoon.
Freshman Brian Peer (Huntington, N.Y.) had Johnson & Wales on the board first when he put in a pass from fellow rookie Eric Russo (West Grove, Pa.) at the 8:34 mark for the only goal of the first quarter to put the Wildcats up 1-0.
Stone then tallied back-to-back goals just :30 apart early in the second quarter to extend the lead to 3-0. An unassisted goal by senior Damian Bandereck (Topsfield, Mass.) with 8:17 left in the first half gave the Wildcats the 4-0 advantage. Becker responded with a pair of goal from sophomore Cody Leary (Sandwich, Mass.) and fellow sophomore Matthew Genkos (Worcester, Mass.) just over a minute apart late in the half to cut the lead to 4-2 heading into halftime.
JWU tacked on a pair of goals, including the second of the game from Bandereck at the 10:41 mark of the third period, to take the 6-3 lead after three periods of play. Becker again responded and cut the lead to 6-4 on the second goal of the game from sophomore Daniel Johnson (Plymouth, Mass.) on an assist to Genkos with 10:25 left in the contest. That would be as close as the Hawks would get, however as Stone completed his hat-trick to give the Wildcats an insurance goal with just under five minutes remaining to give JWU the 7-4 victory.
Freshman JC Guido (Miller Place, N.Y.) notched 20 saves in the victory for Johnson & Wales while sophomore Jeffrey Candee (Madison, Conn.) tallied seven stops in the setback for Becker.
With the win Johnson & Wales improves to 1-2 while Becker drops to 0-3 on the season. The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, March 14th when they host Husson in a non-conference contest at 3:00 p.m. The game is part of a double-header with the women's lacrosse team hosting Emmanuel at 12:00 p.m. The double-header is part of the University's Green-Dot initiative. Becker returns to action on Saturday, March 14th when they host Johnson State College at 1:00 p.m.
