Union, N.J. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Lacrosse team returned to Skyline Conference play on Friday evening, falling on the road at Kean by a score of 17-7. Josh James (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Germain Ngaba (Bronx, N.Y.) each scored twice and junior goalie Ben Gashi (Bronx, N.Y.) made 23 saves in goal for the Mount.
 
Mount Saint Vincent fell behind 6-1 in the second quarter after Kean scored four straight goals to open the period. James and Michael Puchalski (Yorktown, N.Y.) scored back-to-back goals late in the second stanza to get the Dolphins to within 6-3, before a Jeff Christiano goal for Kean at the horn sent the Cougars to the intermission up by four goals.
 
Kean outshot Mount Saint Vincent 33-13 before halftime, including 18-2 in the first quarter. Kean held the advantage in groundballs at halftime 22-15 and in face-off wins 9-1.
 
Coming out of halftime, Mount Saint Vincent scored the first three goals of the third quarter to pull to within one goal at the 10:22 mark of the third stanza. James started the scoring string for the Mount with his second of the game with Rob Lalli (Tuckahoe, N.Y.) and Ngaba both scoring inside the quarter's first five minutes.
 
Following the Ngaba marker, Kean ran off the next nine goals to pull away to a 16-6 lead. The Dolphins would not get on the board again until Tim Drake (Floral Park, N.Y.) scored his first career goal to stop the Cougars' run with 3:29 left in regulation time.
 
James finished the game with a pair of goals and two groundballs, while Ngaba scored multiple goals in a game for the fifth time this season. He added three groundballs and two caused turnovers in the game.
 
Senior Frank Maddaloni (Bronx, N.Y.) led the Dolphins with five groundballs and four face-off wins with Joe Esposito (Bethpage, N.Y.) picking up four groundballs and causing a turnover. Mike McEnaney (New York, N.Y.) and Pat McEnaney (New York, N.Y.) each finished with an assist in the game for the Dolphins.
 
Kean was led by five goals and eight points from Matt Speciale. Mike Criscitello won nine face-offs and picked up four groundballs, while Edward Adams won six face-offs and led all players with seven groundballs.
 
Gashi played a strong game in goal for the Dolphins, stopping a career-high 23 shots, including seven shots each in the first and fourth quarters. Maxwell Fields picked up the win for Kean in goal after making eight stops.
 
Overall in the game, Kean held the edge in shots 64-29 and shots on goal 41-15. Kean won the groundball battle on Friday 50-29 and dominated face-offs, winning 18 of the 24 draws taken.
 
With Friday's loss, Mount Saint Vincent falls to 0-9 overall on the season and to 0-3 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will return to play on April 15 when they travel to Arcadia. Face-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

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