BOXSCORE
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Senior midfielder Aaron Civalier (Penfield, NY) scored three goals and added an assist Sunday as host Nazareth held off Springfield to win its season opener in men's lacrosse, an 11-10 non-conference triumph over the Pride.
Nazareth, ranked 13th nationally, led for most of the game and only trailed for a brief stretch of the second quarter. Springfield used a three-goal third-quarter flurry to tie the score at 8-8, but Nazareth responded with three straight goals to regain the lead for good, 11-8, early in the fourth quarter.
A goal by senior midfielder Matt Aloi (Jamesville, NY) with 3:46 left in the third quarter maee it 9-8, then Erinn O'Hara (Camillus, NY) muscled his way past the Springfield defense to add an unassisted goal with just :03 left in the third quarter. Freshman Scott Castle (Skaneateles, NY) then added his first career goal off an extra-man pass from Civalier early in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 11-8.
Springfield's Tyler Montgomery (Brunswick, ME) took advantage of a broken Nazareth clear to cut the lead to 11-9, but Nazareth's defense kept the Pride off the scoreboard until Jake Beebe (Sudbury, MA) scored with just :01 remaining.
Civalier scored two of his goals in the second quarter as Nazareth held a 6-5 lead at halftime. O'Hara and freshman Doug Milano-Johnson (Pittsford, NY) scored for Nazareth in the first quarter, while Bebee and Greg Welch (Peabody, MA) countered for the Pride. Kyle Louer (Islip, NY) scored for Springfield just 30 seconds into the second quarter to give the Pride their only lead of the game, but Nazareth countered just 26 seconds later on freshman Corey Remoli's (Asbury, NJ) first career goal. Senior Mark Kanellis (Cortland, NY) also scored for Nazareth before halftime.
Third-quarter goals by Steve Cutia (Cortland, NY) and Civalier enabled Nazareth to extended its lead to 8-5, but Springfield rallied behind two goals by Kyle Gable (Somers, CT) and one by Joe Heney (Plainview, NY) to tie the score at 8-8.
Nazareth had a 42-33 shooting advantage, while Springfield maintained a 36-32 advantage in ground balls, thanks largely to nine from Chris Jez, who won 15 of 24 face-offs for the Pride.
Tom Albano (Ridgewood, NJ) made 14 saves in goal for Springfield, while sophomore Todd Dermody (Selden, NY) made 10 saves in his first career start for Nazareth.
The Golden Flyers return to action Saturday for a home game against Geneseo at 1 p.m.