Box Score Lafayette Hill, Pa. – (3/19/2016) – Chestnut Hill College stayed a step ahead of #8 Long Island University (LIU) Post throughout tonight's East Coast Conference (ECC) game as sophomore attack Dylan Klusaritz (Slatington, Pa.), sophomore midfielder Joshua Pope (Schnecksville, Pa.), and junior attack Michael Plaia (Hicksville, N.Y.) all delivered hat-tricks in a 14-10 victory. 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.
 
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.

Slane and Berardis each recorded a hat-trick and were supported by a two-goal effort from Beccaris. Junior midfielder Anthony Galeotafiore (Wantagh, N.Y.) won 16-of-25 (.640) face-offs while collecting game high 10 groundballs. Junior goalkeeper Matthew Liantonio (Miller Place, N.Y.) collected ten saves and three groundballs in the loss (4-3).
 
For the Griffins, Klusaritz recorded a game-high five points on three goals and two assists. He also collected a groundball and a caused turnover. Pope added a groundball to his three-goal performance while Dambach provided two assists, a groundball, and a caused turnover in excess of his two scores. Junior goalkeeper Thomas McDermott (Holmes, Pa.) collected 10 saves and three groundballs in the win (1-5).
 
The men's lacrosse team continues their ECC schedule on Saturday, March 26, with a 1:00 p.m. faceoff at Dowling College.