Martin leads Gators to first ever Empire 8 men's lacrosse win, 14-4 at Elmira

Martin leads Gators to first ever Empire 8 men's lacrosse win, 14-4 at Elmira

Elmira, NY— Freshman midfielder Robert Martin (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) scored a career high six goals and added two assists as The Sage Colleges won 14-4 at Elmira College Saturday night at Notre Dame High School. The Gators recorded the first Empire 8 Conference victory in program history and are now 6-5 overall in the program's first season and 1-3 in league play. The Soaring Eagles are 2-9 and 0-4.

Martin had 11 shots and four ground balls for the Gators. Freshman midfielder David Baraniuk (Budd Lake, NY/Mount Olive) scored three goals and had six assists and six ground balls with a total of 14 shots. Freshman attack Matt Fisher (Niskayuna, NY/Colonie) added two goals and three assists Sage, and the Gators got one goal each from freshman midfielder Rich Everoski (Farmingville, NY/Sachem East), sophomore midfielder Sherron Banton (Brooklyn, NY/John Dewey) and freshman midfielder Adam Parker (Quechee, VT/Hartford). Freshmen Brandon Maresca (Landing, NJ/Roxbury) made three saves in 30 minutes while freshman Troy Schweitzer (Pittsfield, MA/Taconic) made four saves in 15 minutes and freshman Michael Capitelli (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) stopped one in his 15 minutes of work in the Sage cage.

Sam Shaw led Elmira with two goals, and Spencer Carter and David Keisler each scored for Elmira. Shaw had 10 shots and five ground balls while Cam Brickey had six grounders and four caused turnovers.

Sage had a 42-25 shot advantage and also had 60 ground balls to the hosts' 33. The Gators dominated the face offs, winning 14 of the 19 for the night and also was successful on 17 of 22 clear attempts.

The Gators got off to a great start and never looked back. Baraniuk scored just 1:36 into the game, led 3-0 with 10:20 left in the first, and had a 6-0 after the first period. The Gators had an 8-0 lead at the half. Martin scored two goals in the first 1:13 for a 10-0 lead early in the third, and it was 12-2 Sage after three quarters.

Sage plays at Empire 8 opponent Hartwick College Wednesday, April 10 at 4 p.m. Elmira is idle until Saturday, April 13 for an Empire 8 game at Alfred at 1 p.m.