ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's lacrosse team continued its prolonged tear at Eastern Wednesday, topping the host Eagles by a 12-7 count to run their winning streak to seven games and match the best start in school history.
Sophomore Lou Harrison rung up his first career hat-trick for No. 19/15 Ursinus (9-1), which equaled last season's 10-game start and tied a seven-game run in 2009 for the longest unbeaten stretch in program history. The Bears, who won their fourth straight against Eastern, can establish new school records in both categories with a victory over Washington College next Wednesday.
Eastern (5-5) but got on the board first, the Bears clawed back with a three-goal run to close the opening period. Junior Matthew Cioeta, freshman Peter DeSimone, and Harrison found the back of the net for Ursinus; Harrison's, on a feed from classmate Ian Desenberg with 2:08 left in the quarter, was his first goal in four games.
After the Eagles limited Ursinus to a single tally in the second period, after which the home side trailed just 4-3, the Bears came out of intermission with a vengeance. Freshman Sam Isola's unassisted strike less than a minute into the third ignited a four-goal stretch – which also included a man-up marker from Desenberg in addition to scores by Harrison and sophomore Gerard Brown – that handed the Bears plenty of breathing room.
Eastern stopped the bleeding with a goal at 4:17, but the respite was brief. Desenberg struck just 20 seconds later, and Brown set up Harrison for his third of the day and a 10-4 lead late in the third. Seniors Steve Mussoline and Patrick O'Donoghue potted fourth-quarter goals as the Bears came home with their fourth consecutive road victory.
Tim Lamb led the way with three goals and Mark Buannic contributed two goals and an assist for the Eagles, who fell to 0-3 against Centennial Conference competition this season; Eastern also lost to Swarthmore (8-6) and Gettysburg (10-6).
O'Donoghue scored for the second straight game, the first time in his career that he registered goals in back-to-back contests, and added three ground balls and a caused turnover to the Ursinus cause.
Desenberg finished with two goals and an assist and Brown posted two assists to go with his 10th goal of the year. Desenberg now has 22 points, needing only eight games to match last season's total, which he reached in 17 appearances.
DeSimone (two goals) and Isola (goal, assist) tallied two points apiece for the Bears, who had the advantage in shots (37-23) and ground balls (27-23) and gained possession on 14 of 23 faceoffs thanks to the continued excellence of senior James Fairchild, who went 13-of-21 and snagged four ground balls.
Senior goalkeeper Brian Neff logged seven saves between the pipes, and Jameal Hadeed stopped 12 shots for Eastern.
Interestingly, it marked the third time this season that Ursinus won a road game by a 12-7 score; the Bears also defeated Montclair State and Elizabethtown by the same margin.
The Bears have a week off before welcoming Washington College to Patterson Field for a CC tilt on Wednesday, April 13.