Klusaritz and McDermott Draw ECCÂ Honor Roll Recognition after Win over Pioneers
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Central Islip, N.Y. – (3/23/2016) – Chestnut Hill College stayed a step ahead of #8 Long Island University (LIU) Post throughout Saturday night's East Coast Conference (ECC) game as sophomore attack Dylan Klusaritz (Slatington, Pa.) was one of three Griffins to deliver a hat-tricks in a 14-10 victory. He recorded a game-high five points in all with two assists in addition to a groundball and a caused turnover. Meanwhile, junior goalkeeper Thomas McDermott (Holmes, Pa.) collected his first win (1-5) of the season with 10 saves and three groundballs.
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In a highly-competitive affair, it was a second-half, five-goal run that separated the Scarlet and Gold from the Pioneers. Chestnut Hill College (1-5, 1-2) initially trailed LIU Post (4-3, 2-1) after senior attack Matty Beccaris (North Babylon, N.Y.) assisted freshman attack Thomas Liantonio (Miller Place, N.Y.) for the first goal of the game at 13:34, 1-0. Pope responded, unassisted, just 24 seconds later (13:10) to tie the contest at 1-1, before additional goals from Klusaritz (12:02) and Plaia (10:55) to put the Griffins ahead 3-1. The Pioneers responded with two unassisted goals at 9:16 and 4:17, 3-3, but the Griffins simply would not go away without a fight. A series of back-and-forth tallies kept the contest close until Pope struck again with 2:46 left in the second quarter, 7-6. His second score of the game was followed by goals from Klusaritz (8-6 at 1:08) and senior defender Derick Darnulc (Baldwin, N.Y.), who effortlessly won the faceoff and the scored his first goal of the season to put the Griffins ahead 9-6 with a minute (1:00) remaining in the first half. Unfortunately, Beccaris halted the Griffins scoring streak with an unassisted goal just eight seconds (0:08) before intermission, 9-7.
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After senior midfielder Anthony Berardis (Mahopac, N.Y.) opened the second half with an unassisted goal (9-8 at 13:37), the Griffins generated a game-winning, five-goal run that started with a man-up tally from Plaia at 11:01 of the third quarter, 10-8, and ended at 3:51 of the fourth quarter with three unassisted scores and a man-up connection between senior attack George Markey (Branchburg, N.J.) and junior midfielder Justin Albarran (Freehold, N.J.), 14-8. The Pioneers made a final push with goals from Beccaris (14-9 at 1:21) and Berardis (14-10 at 1:00), but the Griffins eventually played keep-away until the final horn.
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The men’s lacrosse team continues their ECC schedule on Saturday, March 26, with a 1:00 p.m. faceoff at Dowling College.
