(4/30/08)   Earlier this afternoon the Centenary Men’s Lacrosse team lost in the PAC (Pennsylvania Athletic Conference) semi-finals to Eastern University by the final of 10-6.  The victory moves the Eagles into Saturday’s Championship game versus Cabrini College, who advanced to Sunday with a 19-1 victory over Marywood also earlier today.  The loss ends the Cyclones season with an overall record of 6-11.

The afternoon started with Centenary notching the first score, on an unassisted goal from Jason Reig (Long Valley West Morris).  The host Eagles responded two minutes later on a goal from Michael Ryan, tying the game at 1-1.  Eastern tallied another at the 9:10 mark when Ryan found Matt Colello for the 2-1 lead.  The visiting Cyclones took control of the opening quarter as they ran off three consecutive goals, getting scores from Ryan Mangold (Hillsborough/Hillsborough), Colin Aldino (Belmar/St. Rose), and Nate Small (Great Mills, MD/Great Mills).  Reig, Small, and Aldino all registered assists in the span.  Centenary took the 4-2 advantage into the second period.  Eastern then used the second quarter for their own scoring spree, tallying the only four goals of the period.  Ben O’Donnell pulled the hosts to within one on an assist from Michael Ryan.  Ryan then did his own scoring recording the next three, with assists coming from Nick Mandia, Colello, and Matt Mandia.  Eastern held the Cyclones scoreless in the period and held a 6-4 lead at the halftime break.

Centenary opened the second half much like the first, playing a controlled offense and fought back with two goals in the opening nine minutes of play.  Small took a pass from Mangold for their fifth tally, and seven minutes later Small connected on his third of the game to tie the game at 6-6.  The Eagles wasted no time taking the lead back as Jimmy Caiola scored an unassisted goal 0:43 later to push Eastern back in front 76-, which they held into the fourth quarter.  The Eagles O’Donnell and Nick Mandia extended the lead to the eventual final decision of 10-6 with goals at the 11:01, 9:24, and 3:22 marks of the period.

Centenary’s Small led the visitor’s with three goals, while Aldino, Mangold, and Reig each added one.  Brian Triolo (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central) made nine saves in the loss.  Boxscore

(4/26/08) – In their final regular season game today on Cyclone Field the Centenary men’s lacrosse team took on visiting Alvernia College.  The Cyclones came out on top 9-8 in the match honoring the four graduating seniors. 

The first quarter went back and forth with both teams scoring goals but Centenary keeping and slight advantage.  Goals by Rory Murray (Cranford/Seton Hall Prep) and Ryan Mangold (Hillsborough/Hillsborough) gave the Cyclones a two goal lead and after an Alvernia answering goal, a goal by Nate Small (Great Mills, MD/Great Mills) made the score 3-1.  The Crusaders netted two in a row to knot the game up at 3-3 but the Cyclones found the back of the net twice before the end of the period.  The second period saw Alvernia take the control of the game scoring two goals to Centenary’s one and gaining the advantage in shots 10-3 when in the first quarter the Cyclones out shot the Crusaders 12-4.  At the half, Centenary was down to a one goal lead.  

The second half saw the ball go end to end.  Despite Alvernia leading in shots again, the only Cyclones found the net to increase their lead to two. The final quarter was even up as both team had good scoring opportunities. Alvernia found the net again for the first goal of the quarter just 29 seconds in to play.  Centenary retaliated with a goal by Travis Roy (Whippany/Whippany Park) from Murray and another by Mangold to give the men a three goal cushion.  The Crusaders did not give up and the Cyclones had to fight until the end as Alvernia’s Chris Baker and Chris Bakes both put in goals before the end of play.  Centenary held strong and was able to emerge with the 9-8 victory.     

Leading for the Cyclones was Mangold who tallied three goals while classmate Small captured two.  Four different players recorded one goal to round out the scoring.  Jason Reig (Long Valley/ West Morris), the team leader in assists, added five to his total in the match today. 

Bakes led for Alvernia with three goals while Baker and Ben Stidham both found the net twice.  Also scoring for the Crusaders was Tom Nowak who had one. 

In net for the Cyclones Brian Triolo (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central) made 20 saves with ten coming in the third period alone.  Alvernias Joe Cepparulo made six saves for the Crusaders. 

This win takes the men to 5-10 overall and 5-3 in PAC play while Alvernia falls to 1-13 and 1-5 in the conference.  The Cyclones now have to wait for the results of the other PAC games being played today to find out if they clinch a playoff berth.   Boxscore

(4/23/08) – This afternoon the Centenary men’s lacrosse team played host to visiting Farmingdale State University in a non-conference match-up.  Seniors Nate Small (Great Mills, MD/Great Mills), Ryan Mangold (Hillsborough/Hillsborough) and Rory Murray (Cranford/Seton Hall Prep.) each recorded a hat trick to lead the team in the Cyclones 12-6 victory over the Rams.

Centenary started off strong scoring the first two goals of the game but Farmingdale answered back with one of their own.  The two teams traded goals for the remainder of the first quarter and then in the second quarter the men scored three goals to Farmingdale’s one to finish the half with a score of 6-3. 

The Cyclones out shot Farmingdale 30-11 in the first half alone and picked up more than double the ground balls but the Rams seven out of the 11 face-offs. 

Centenary led by three at the end of the first half but the Rams added two after halftime to cut the men’s lead to one.  Centenary retaliated with goals by Mangold and Jason Reig (Long Valley/West Morris) to increase their advantage to three once again.  Farmingdale was able to get one more before the end of the third but the fourth quarter was all Centenary as the men scored four unanswered goals to finish the game with a score of 12-6. 

Murray, Mangold and Small all recorded three goals and one assist to lead their team while Reig tallied two goals and three assists.  Joe Swantkoski (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central) rounded out the Cyclone scoring with a goal in the match. 

For Farmingdale, Jo Stroessenteuther and Eddie Rifice both found the back of the net twice while Thomas Weil and Paul Randazzo scored once a piece. 

Centenary’s Brian Triolo (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central) recorded 11 total saves in net for the Cyclones while the Rams keeper Teddy Leone notched 17.  

This victory moved the men to 5-10 overall while Farmingdale drops to 2-9.  The men are back in action this weekend.  They will be playing their senior game against PAC rival Alvernia College at home on Cyclone Field at 1:00pm.   Boxscore

(4/17/08) - The men’s lacrosse team traveled to Manhattanville College yesterday evening for a non-conference game.  Despite carrying the lead for the first three periods, the men could not hold on and eventually succumbed to the Valiants 9-7. 

The first period began with the Cyclones taking a 2-0 lead over the Valiants with unassisted goals by Ryan Mangold (Hillsborough/Hillsborough) and Colin Aldino (Belmar/St. Rose).  Mangold added to the men’s lead in the second quarter, scoring off of an assist by Nate Small (Great Mills, MD/Great Mills).   

The third quarter saw the men extend their lead to four when Jason Reig (Long Valley/West Morris) scored an unassisted goal five minutes in but a goal by Mahattanville a few minutes later would open up a seven goal scoring run for the Valiants.  Centenary recovered in the fourth with Mangold’s third goal of the game but Mahattanville countered with two more.  Mangold and Reig both found the back of the net again in the final minutes of play but it was not enough as the Cyclones fell by a final score of 9-7.

Mangold led for the Cyclones with 4 goals while Reig tallied two goals and one assist.  Also recording points for the men were Small and Aldino. Small notched two assists and Aldino netted one goal and one assist on the day. 

For Manhattanville, Joey Hasbrouck found the back of the net three times to lead the team while Andrew McMillen totaled two goals and two assists.  Four other Valiants were able to record one goal apiece. 

This loss takes the men to 3-10 overall while Mahattanville improves to 8-4.  The Cyclones are back in action this Saturday on the road at Misericordia at 3:00 pm.    Boxscore

(4/7/08) – The Centenary Men’s Lacrosse Team played host to visiting Neumann College this afternoon on Cyclone Field.  The men came into this game today looking for their second straight win after defeating Immaculata this past weekend.  They were able to come away with the victory, which improved their record to 3-1 in the PAC and 3-7 overall while Neumann fell to 1-9 and 1-3 in conference play.

Two minutes into the game Colin Aldino (Belmar/St. Rose) would find the back of the net off a pass from Nate Small (Great Mills, MD/Great Mills) to get the Cyclones on the board first.  Neumann evened up the score a few minutes later on an unassisted goal from Kyle Gardner.  The Cyclones would score twice more in the first quarter off assists from Jason Reig (Long Valley/West Morris) to take a 3-1 lead.  Reig would eventually record five assists and two goals throughout the match.  Both teams notched a goal in the second period to make the 4-2 going into the halftime break. 

The third period saw the men hit four in a row with Ryan Mangold (Hillsborough/Hillsborough) scoring two and Reig assisting on two more.  Gardner was able to muster one more for the Knights but the damage had been done as the Cyclone extended their lead to five.  Neumann did their best to rally, netting three goals in the final period, but the men held them off with Reig tallying a final goal to end the game with a score of 9-6. 

Reig assisted on more then half of the men’s total goals while Small led the team with three goals.  Also scoring for the Cyclones were Aldino and Mangold who scored two apiece.

For Neumann, Gardner scored four out of his team's six goals with the scoring rounded out by teammates Mike McQuade and Justin Mailloux.

In net for the Cyclones Brian Triolo (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central) grabbed 12 saves while Jake Boulay made 14 for Neumann. 

Centenary heads out on the road again, this time heading to Wayne, PA to take on Cabrini College in the third conference game in a row for the Cyclones.  The game will be played Wednesday, April 9th at 4:00pm.   Boxscore

(4/2/08)  Earlier this afternoon the Centenary Men’s Lacrosse team dropped a hard fought non-conference contest with the University of Scranton by the final of 13-9.  Despite the margin of victory, the game was tied with just over six minutes remaining and certainly could have gone either way.

The visiting Royals (7-2) jumped in front early scoring twice in the opening seven minutes of play.  Centenary (1-7) would strike once in the first quarter on an unassisted goal by Jason Reig (Long Valley/West Morris), to pull within one after one period of play.  The two team’s traded two goals each, again through the first seven minutes, keeping the margin at one 4-3.  From there Scranton took control scoring three more times to close the quarter and head into halftime with a commanding 7-3 advantage. 

The second half began much like the first as the Royals struck first, pushing the cushion to 8-3.  However, over the next 17 minutes (final eight of the third quarter and the opening nine of the fourth) the host Cyclones dominated the score board running off six goals to Scranton’s one.  The final tally came on Rory Murray’s (Cranford/Seton Hall Prep) fourth goal of the game, and it pulled the Cyclones even at 9-9.  With just over six minutes left in the game, Centenary found themselves in the middle of a down to the wire finish.  Unfortunately for the Cyclones, the Royals picked up the following face-off and Christian Dugan found the back of the net less than a minute later to put the visitor’s back in front.  Over the final five minutes of play, Scranton would notch three more goals to push the score to the final margin of 13-9 and notch their seventh victory of the year.

Scranton’s Kyle Frank led the scoring for Royals, tallying five goals and an assist, while Thomas Kornobis netted four goals and Duggan added two goals and an assist.  Jeremy Dowiak made six saves in net for the visitor’s.  As for Centenary Rory Murray led the way with four goals, while teammate Nate Small (Great Mills, MD/Great Mills) added two of his own.  Colin Aldino (Belmar/St. Rose) and Jason Reig each chipped in with one goal and one assist.   Boxscore