COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Freshman Peter DeSimone became the latest member of the Ursinus College men's lacrosse team to concoct a career performance, putting up seven of his career-high eight points in the first half as the Bears coasted to an 18-8 rout of Swarthmore in their Centennial Conference opener.
DeSimone finished with four goals and four assists, both career bests, as Ursinus (6-1, 1-0) extended its winning streak to four and prevailed in its conference opener for the third straight year. It marked the third straight game in which a Bear recorded at least six points, joining seniors Logan Panaccione and Steve Mussoline with banner days over the team's past three appearances.
Swarthmore (4-3, 0-1) took an early lead on a goal from Griffin Johnston less than two minutes in, but DeSimone and the Bears made sure that was as good as it got it for the Garnet. Sophomore Gerard Brown fed Mussoline for a quick equalizer, and a perfectly executed fast break featuring a bevy of crisp passes ended with DeSimone finding sophomore Ian Desenberg for a one-timer and a lead Ursinus never came close to relinquishing.
DeSimone had a hand in the next two markers for the Bears, coming from around the net for one of his own and feeding junior Matthew Cioeta for a rocket and a 4-1 lead. Swarthmore scored to slice the margin to two, but it was all Bears from there.
Panaccione scooped up a loose ball out in front and fired past a helpless Cole Fox in goal, and senior Mike Durst fed across the crease and over the top of the defense for another well-timed strike from Desenberg with only 7 ticks left in the opening period.
DeSimone scored back-to-back to open the second-quarter scoring, and passed out to senior Tucker Noel from x to cap an 8-1 run at the 6:59 mark. The teams traded two goals before hitting the halftime buzzer, with DeSimone netting the last of them at 3:24 to polish off a seven-point first half and put Ursinus ahead, 11-4.
It was the second straight first half with at least ten goals for the Bears, who tallied 12 last weekend's victory over Widener, and the second game in a row in which an Ursinus player had seven first-half points; Mussoline produced five goals and two assists against the Pride.
Freshmen midfielders Patrick Bernicker and Tim Miller recorded their first collegiate goals in the second half, and junior Kerry Kynett tallied his first of the season (second career) with 2:57 remaining.
DeSimone's helper on Kynett's goal gave him eight points on the day, matching sophomore Gerard Brown – who had three goals and five assists in the season opener – for the highest single-game total by a Bear since 2007.
Desenberg continued his strong stretch with his second four-goal effort in the last four games, giving him multiple points in his last five. Mussoline netted his second straight hat-trick, and Panaccione handed out three assists for the third consecutive outing, also adding a goal to give him 15 points in that span.
Durst added his third goal of the year to his first assist, and Brown tacked on two assists to his Centennial-Conference leading total; he came in ranked seventh in Division III in that category.
Senior James Fairchild corralled eight ground balls and split 22 face-offs, while junior Matthew Cioeta provided a goal, three ground balls, and two caused turnover; a figure matched by senior Patrick O'Donoghue. Senior Brian Neff had five saves before being replaced by freshman Nick Kirk, who notched his first career save in the final minutes.
Ursinus held a 45-25 advantage in shots (25-8 in the middle quarters) and committed only eight turnovers, matching their lowest number in at least the last seven years. The Bears were a perfect 14-of-14 on clears and forced five Swarthmore turnovers in such situations.
Matt Johnson had three goals and an assist for the Garnet, and Fox made 13 saves before giving way to John Calia with 5:08 to play.
The Bears return to CC action with a matchup of the league's two hottest squads at Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday, March 30. The Diplomats have won seven straight following a 16-4 rout at Muhlenberg.