SPRINGFIELD, Mass. The American International College men's lacrosse team fell to the College of Saint Rose Wednesday afternoon in Northeast-10 action at Abdow Field, 17-6.
With the loss AIC falls to 0-11 overall and 0-8 in league play, while with the win St. Rose improves to 3-8 and 1-5 in the NE-10.
The Yellow Jackets had trouble finding an answer for Golden Knight Matt Graham. The sophomore attacker tallied an impressive 11 points off five goals and six assists. He scored the third goal of the day to put his team up by as many in the early going.
Trailing 3-0 after 6:46 of play, AIC sophomore Jack McIntyre (East Longmeadow, Mass.) found the back of the net at the 3:30 mark of the first frame, assisted by freshman Lucas Bombardier (Pittsford, Vt.). Graham netted his 21st of the season to end the quarter as the Jackets went into the second down, 4-1.
The two sides had trouble getting into an offensive rhythm in the second stanza as St. Rose outscored AIC just 2-1 in the quarter. Connor Moore and Graham bookended an unassisted AIC goal scored by junior Eric Overdahl (Milford, Mass.). The Jackets went into the break down just four goals, 6-2.
The Knights broke it open to open the second half, scoring four of the first five goals to gap American International. Bombardier was the only Jacket to break up the St. Rose scoring flurry, netting his fifth of the season with 12:12 left in the third.
AIC junior Kevin Papineau (Westfield, Mass.) and Bombardier ended the quarter with scoring strikes, while Overdahl opened the fourth and final frame with his second of the day to pull their squad within five, 11-6, but the Golden Knights responded. St. Rose rattled off the final six goals of the contest.
Bombardier led the team with four points, scoring two and dishing out two helpers. In net, junior John Magliano (Upton, Mass.) made 13 saves and picked up a team-high five ground balls.
The Yellow Jackets return to action Friday night when they host Bentley University for an NE-10 clash. Game time with the Falcons is slated to start at 7 p.m.