SEWANEE, TN – The York College men’s lacrosse team captured their first win of the 2009 campaign Wednesday evening with a 12-5 victory over Sewanee in Tennessee. The Spartans, who have played all three of their games on the road thus far, improve to 1-2 on the year while the Tigers drop to 0-3.
      Josh Gamble (Easton, Md./Easton) and Ryan McNicholas (Fallston, Md./Fallston) paced the Green and White with three goals each as a eight different Spartans notched goals on the day. Gamble, who also recorded an assist, led off the Spartan scoring with the game’s first tally at the 9:26 mark of the first. Following a tying score from Sewanee’s Travis Brannon, McNicholas put the Spartans back up one with 6:28 left in the opening stanza courtesy of one of Nick Bach’s (Glen Burnie, Md./North County) two assists on the day.
      The second frame would see the Spartan offense take over with four goals in the period. After Sewanee’s Jack Thomasson opened the period with a score to knot the game at two, McNicholas scored his second of the game at the 10:54 mark to give the Green and White a lead they would not relinquish. McNicholas tallied yet again with 7:36 to go in the half, pushing the Spartan margin to 4-2. Senior Mike LaRoque (Arnold, Md./DeMatha) and sophomore Brendan McLaughlin (Brookeville, Md./Good Counsel) added two more scores to York’s total late in the frame as the Spartans took a 6-2 lead into the break.
      The third period proved to be nearly a mirror image of the second. Thomasson again opened the stanza’s scoring with a goal at the 6:39 mark to cut York’s lead to a manageable 6-3. The Spartans quickly dashed any thoughts of a Tiger comeback however, with four goals over the frame’s final 5:49. Junior midfielder Ryan Schab (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) tallied his second of the year at that 5:49 mark as he combined with Brian O’Neill (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) to put the Green and White back up four at 7-3. Patrick Coppinger (Jessup, Md./Hammond), Gamble, and Bob Braun (Chadds Ford, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) each notched unassisted scores to close out the period and give the Spartans a commanding 10-3 lead heading into the fourth.
      York and Sewanee would each score twice in the final 15 minutes as the Spartans came away with a 12-5 victory.
      The Green and White held a huge advantage in shots at 51-21 while the Spartans also won 12 of 19 face-offs. The Tigers collected a majority of the ground balls, holding a slight 32-27 margin.
      Gamble posted a team-high four points with his three goals and one assist while McNicholas’ hat trick gives the junior four scores on the year. Zach Scherr (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin) led the Spartans with four ground balls while Dan Wood (Montauk, N.Y./East Hampton) and B.J. Blaker (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) collected three and two respectively. Sophomore goalkeeper Chris Collins (Westminster, Md./Westminster) picks up the victory in the Spartan net as he made seven saves over his 60 minutes.
      Thomasson posted a hat trick for the Tigers as Brannon and Nate Sell each added one tally. Six Sewanee players picked up three ground balls including Thomasson and Sell. Stewart Calder takes the loss in the cage for the Tigers as he made 16 stops on the day.
      The Spartans finish their four-game road swing with a trip to Richard Stockton on Saturday, March 7, for a 1:00 pm non-conference tilt.

GAME BOX

Photo of junior attack Ryan McNicholas