Albany, NY— Three freshmen players scored two goals each to lead The Sage Colleges men's lacrosse team to an 8-7 non-league victory over Castleton University Wednesday night at ACP Field. The Gators are now 5-3 in the program's first season, while Castleton stands 2-6.
Midfielder David Baraniuk (Budd Lake, NY/Mount Olive), attack Matt Fisher (Niskayuna, NY/Colonie) and fielder Robert Martin (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) each tallied twice. Baraniuk's second of the night and 21st of the season made it 8-2 with 12:51 left in the third period. Freshmen Brandon Maresca (Landing, NJ/Roxbury) made nine saves and held off a furious Castleton rally. Freshmen midfielder Shea Obado (Spotswood, NJ/Spotswood) and attack Eric Fairhurst (Wooster, OH/Wooster) scored once each.
Jason Sedel scored a game high for goals for the Spartans. Castleton got single scores from Colin Clark, Tom Pardew and Tyler Crowningshield. Kyle Lutinski assisted on two goals and goalkeepers Brandon Myron and Maxx Ingison stopped four shots each, each playing one half.
Sage had a slim 28-25 shot advantage and Castleton had a tight 31-30 advantage in ground balls. Sage had 29 turnovers to the 24 for the Spartans, and Sage won 10 of the 17 face offs. The Spartans were a perfect 3-3 on man-ups while Sage was 2-5.
The Gators led 5-0 with 6:31 left in the first half, and scored the final two goals of the second period to take an 7-2 lead into the break. After the Baraniuk goal 2:09 into the third, the Spartans scored the final seven, including the last won by Sedell. His final goal came with 4:49 left in regulation.
Martin entered the game ranked #12 in assists per game in NCAA Div. III national statistics (3.14), and had another tonight for his 23rd of the season. Baraniuk ranked 35th nationally in points per game and had the two goals to give him 21 scores on the year. Sage entered tonight ranked 57th in points per game.
Sage hosts Empire 8 rival Stevens Saturday, March 31 at ACP Field at 1 p.m. Castleton is at Salem State Saturday at 6 p.m.
