No. 20 Army Tops Men?s Lacrosse 24-3

Lacrosse VMIKeydets.com

No. 20 Army Tops Men?s Lacrosse 24-3

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- In its second game in as many days, the Virginia Military Institute men's lacrosse team fell on the road 24-3 at the United States Military Academy, which was ranked 20th in both the USILA Preseason Coaches' and the Cascade/Maverik Media Polls, in a non-conference game.

The game was originally scheduled to be contested at Michie Stadium but inclement weather in the Hudson Valley forced a change of venue Monday morning. The Keydets and Black Knights played indoors at the Foley Athletic Center.

“First I need to thank the game administration and facility crew at Army for doing such a great job setting up and plans for this game to happen,” said fifth-year head coach Brian Anken, who coached a team indoors for the first time in his 12-year career.

Army's Connor Cook led the game with four goals, followed by a hat trick from teammate Cole Johnson. John Glesener finished with three points on two goals while Jimbo Moore had two goals and two assists. Andrew Michalowski finished with three points for Army (2-0) on two goals and one assist. Ehret Faircloth, and Shea Mullins had two goals apiece as David Symmes and Luke Poulos had a goal and a dish apiece. Avery LittleJohn, Ryan Morgan, Michael Larrabee, Jimmy TenBank and Conor Glancy had one goal each. Gunnar Miller, A.J. Canara, C.J. LoConte, Ted Glesner, Patrick O'Brien and Dan Grabner each had one assist.

VMI (0-2) got its goals from three different sources as Dan Bull, Mike DeBlasio and Brad Nardella all potted their second goals of the season. The Keydets were held without an assist, snapped a 74-game streak with at least one assist, dating back to an April 2, 2011 game at Marist College.

Monday's game was the second time in the last two seasons the Keydets have played back-to-back games after splitting a weekend set with the University of Detroit-Mercy and the United States Air Force Academy in 2014. The Keydets made the drive from Annapolis, Md. to West Point, N.Y. following their season opener at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Sunday afternoon. VMI plays a back-to-back set later in the season against Southern Conference foe University of Richmond and the Air Force Academy.

The Keydets split the game between two goalies, Evan Windisch (0-2) and Joe Riccadonna. Both keepers played for 30 minutes, the former making nine saves and the latter stopping seven Black Knight attempts.

Army played five goalkeepers, with Sam Somers logging 37 minutes for the win, making three saves. Paul Newbold played for 13 minutes with two saves, Matt Isnardi made no saves in his four and a half minutes and allowed one goal. Jackson Tamastis did not allow a goal and made one save while John Quinn did not allow a goal or make a save in two minutes of work.

The Black Knights poured on the offense, taking 54 shots to VMI's 19. Army put 40 of its shots on goal while VMI pulled the trigger 19 times, with nine efforts on goal. Army collected 52 groundballs against VMI's 31.

On the defensive end, Tyler Prasnicki caused five turnovers, collecting six of VMI's groundballs. The Keydets were called for four penalties, serving three and a half minutes in the box, holding Army scoreless on two of its extra-man chances. VMI also went two-for-four in the man up, with Nardella and DeBlasio scoring extra-man goals in the fourth quarter.

VMI struggled to clear the ball, gaining the offensive end in just 13 of its 23 attempts. Army failed to clear just twice in the eighth meeting between the senior military institutions.

Army held VMI scoreless for nearly 26 minutes of the game before Bull snapped a 10-0 Black Knight run with a marker at 4:12, which proved to be the final goal of the first half.

The Black Knights surged again in the third quarter, potting another eight goals for an 18-1 lead through the first 45 minutes. The Keydets scored two of the first three goals in the fourth quarter, with Nardella and DeBlasio each depositing man-up markers. Army scored the game's last five goals.

“We clearly have some areas that need to be addressed and adjusted immediately,” said Anken. “Top priority is to find ways to balance our time of possession on offense and defense. We are excited to get back to work for our home opener this weekend.”

VMI hosts Mount St. Mary's on Saturday for its home opener at Drill Field #2. The opening draw at the North Post venue is set for noon in Lexington, Va.
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Players Mentioned

Dan Bull

#18 Dan Bull

M
6' 2"
Junior
Mike DeBlasio

#7 Mike DeBlasio

A
6' 1"
Senior
Brad Nardella

#2 Brad Nardella

M
5' 10"
Sophomore
Tyler Prasnicki

#17 Tyler Prasnicki

D
5' 11"
Senior
Joe Riccadonna

#6 Joe Riccadonna

G
5' 10"
Freshman
Evan Windisch

#9 Evan Windisch

G
6' 0"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Dan Bull

#18 Dan Bull

6' 2"
Junior
M
Mike DeBlasio

#7 Mike DeBlasio

6' 1"
Senior
A
Brad Nardella

#2 Brad Nardella

5' 10"
Sophomore
M
Tyler Prasnicki

#17 Tyler Prasnicki

5' 11"
Senior
D
Joe Riccadonna

#6 Joe Riccadonna

5' 10"
Freshman
G
Evan Windisch

#9 Evan Windisch

6' 0"
Senior
G