March 1, 2008

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Holy Cross men's lacrosse team fell to Lehigh, 10-5, this afternoon in the Patriot League season-opener for both teams. With the loss, the Crusaders fall to 2-1 (0-1 Patriot League), while the Mountain Hawks improve to 2-2 (1-0 Patriot League).

Senior Toby Banta (Melrose, Mass.), junior Luke Marchand (Concord, Mass.), and sophomores Brendan Candon (Long Beach, N.Y.), Edison Parzanese (Edgartown, Mass.) and Chris Smirti (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) each scored one goal for the Crusaders, while freshman Matt Moran (West Henrietta, N.Y.) had two assists and Parzanese had one.

Lehigh was led by Ricky Cornetta's four goals.

The Crusaders jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a man-up goal by Banta in the first period and a goal by Candon in the second period. Moran assisted on both goals. With 23 seconds left in the second period, Cornetta made it a 2-1 game going into halftime.

The Mountain Hawks then scored four goals in the third period to take a 5-2 lead. In the fourth period, Holy Cross made it a 5-4 game with goals by Marchand and Parzanese, but Lehigh then answered with three straight goals to increase its lead to 8-4. With 8:26 left on the clock, Smirti scored a man-up goal from an assist by Parzanese to make it an 8-5 game, but the Mountain Hawks then scored the last two goals of the game for the 10-5 final score.

Junior goalie Jimmy Harrison (East Williston, N.Y.) made 13 saves for the Crusaders, while Eric Spirko stopped five shots for the Mountain Hawks.

The Crusaders return to action on Tuesday, March 4, when they travel to West Hartford, Conn., to meet Hartford at 3:30 p.m.