POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist men's lacrosse team defeated the Binghamton Bearcats 12-4 on Saturday afternoon, in what was the 2020 season opener for both teams. After a tightly contested first half, the Red Fox offense came alive in the second half, outscoring the Bearcats 8-1 en route to the victory.
 
 

SUMMARY

• Jamison Embury started off the 2020 season with a bang, scoring the first goal of the game at the 8:07 mark to put Marist in front 1-0.
• Goals from Jojo Pirreca and James Lyons in the final two minutes of the first quarter extended Marist's lead to 3-1.
• Binghamton outscored the Red Foxes 2-1 in the second quarter, but still trailed the Red Foxes 4-3 at the end of what was a strong defensive first half.  
• Marist's offense caught fire in the second half, while the defense remained stout. Lyons scored less than a minute into the third quarter, and then Chris Schlappich and Pirreca made it three unanswered goals midway through the third.
• The Red Foxes didn't allow a single goal the entire third quarter, and used those three third period goals to take a 7-3 lead into the fourth frame.
• Embury connected with Jake Weinman less than 30 seconds into the fourth quarter for Weinman's second goal of the game, which set the tone for the remainder of the period.
• Marist scored the next four goals, making it an extended 8-0 run for the second half, to increase its lead to 12-3.
• Binghamton's Will Talbott-Shere scored a goal with three minutes remaining in the game, but it wouldn't matter as the Red Foxes cruised to the 12-4 victory.

 

KEY STATS

• Pirreca had a game-high four goals, and added an assist. He had 14 shots in the game, with 10 coming on goal.
• Lyons was Marist's second leading scorer, also picking up a hat trick (on only three shots).
• Jason Intermesoli did a great job facilitating, dishing out three assists.
• Jake MacGregor made eight saves in net for the Red Foxes, for a .667 save percentage.
• Teddy Dolan had 17 saves for Binghamton, good for a .586 save percentage.
• Peyton Smith took all 18 faceoffs for the Red Foxes, and went 15-18 for a .833 face-off percentage.
• Marist had the advantage in assists (7-1), shots on goal (29-12), and caused turnovers (13-6)
• The Red Foxes were 2-4 in extra man opportunities, while Binghamton was 0-4.

 

NOTES

• This was the first time Marist has won its season opener since 2017.
• Prior to tonight, the Red Foxes last opened the season at Tenney Stadium in 2016, which was a 4OT thriller against Air Force.
• Pirreca's four goals were a career-high, as were his five points.
• Lyons' three goals matched a career high he set last year at Stony Brook.
• Intermesoli had never notched more than one assist in a game prior to his three assists tonight.
• JT Roselle had a career-high four caused turnovers, helping to pace Marist's defense.
• Kyle Stofko had three ground balls in his Red Fox debut.

 

UP NEXT

• Marist travels to take on Richmond on Friday, February 14 at 6 p.m.
• It'll be Marist's fist road game of the season, and then the team will immediately return home for a two-game home stand the next week.