Albany, NY—The Sage Colleges' men's lacrosse program played the first game in the history of the institutions Saturday at ACP Field. The Gators were impressive with just a two-goal deficit at halftime, but Western Connecticut State University had a strong second half for a 21-8 non-league win. It was also the season opener for the Colonials.
Donald Schaumloffel had 11 points with four goals and seven assists for Western, while Ryan Reuling had four goals and four assists and Eric Caldwell added two assists to his four scores. Christian Sparacino and Jack Brierley scored three times each and Robert Swensen scored twice and Matthew Chibbaro added one goal. Sparacino had two assists and Max Gironda had one assist for the Colonials.
Freshman attack Bailey Martin (Syracuse, NY/Onondaga Central) scored two goals with an assist and fellow freshman Matt Fisher (Niskayuna, NY/South Colonie) and sophomore midfielder Sherrod Banton (Brooklyn, NY/John Dewey) scored twice each. Freshman midfielder David Baraniuk (Budd Lake, NJ/Mount Olive) and junior attack Austin Seymour (Albany, NY/Maple Hill) added single goals and single assists for Sage. Freshman midfielder Robert Martin (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) and freshman midfielder Shea Obado (Spotswood, NJ/Spotswood) each had an assist. Western had a 67-21 shot advantage, but 40 of those shots came in the second half. The Colonials totaled 57 ground balls, featuring 20 in the third period, while the Gators had 36 for the game. Western won 23 of the 32 face offs and scored four man-up goals while going 18 for 22 on clears. Sage was 23 for 31 on clears and scored on one of four man-ups.
Sage freshman goalkeeper Michael Capitelli (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) made eight saves in 30 minutes while fellow freshman Brandon Maresca (Landing, NY/Roxbury) also played 30 minutes in his collegiate debut, making 16 saves. Perry Cassidy made five stops for Western in over 40 minutes, while Derk Strine stopped one in over 12 minutes an Colin Neal saw action in just over seven minutes without a save.
Just 41 seconds into the game, Bailey Martin made history as he scored the first goal in Sage men's lacrosse history, an unassisted tally. The game was tied at 3-3 after the first period, and Sage took a 5-4 lead with 10:32 left in the second period on a Fisher man-up goal. Fisher's second of the day tied the game at 6-6 with 3:44 left in the half, but Western scored the next two in the final 2:54 for an 8-6 halftime lead. The guests outscored the hosts, 13-5 in the second half.
Sage is back in action on Wednesday, February 27 for a 6 p.m. non-league game at Kean. Western Connecticut returns to action on Tuesday, February 26 for a 6 p.m. non-league matchup at Mt. St. Mary (NY).