Firebirds Push Past Alderson-Broaddus, 16-12

PHILIPPI, WV – The University of the District of Columbia men's lacrosse team defeated host Alderson-Broaddus University, 16-12 in non-regional play Wednesday afternoon at ABU's Multi-Sport Performance Field.

The Firebirds (2-2) won 20-of-30 face-offs and out-shot the Battlers, 51-40 en-route to their highest scoring output of the season of 16 goals and their second straight win. UDC also improved to 2-0 in the all-time series against Alderson-Broaddus, winning last year's season-opening matchup in overtime, 10-9.

Junior attack Brock Thompson-Marshall led UDC with a career-high four goals on seven shots and three ground balls. Freshman attack Braylon Lumb also registered four points on the day with three goals and one assist, junior midfielder LaRon Hinton added three points on two goals and one assist, and sophomore midfielder Syrrus Nash pitched in a pair of goals.

But behind UDC's offensive eruption today was also the superb job on face-offs by sophomore Teilen Celentano and senior Darien McPhail-Millard. Celentano was 15-of-22 on face-offs with two goals and an assist, and McPhail-Millard was 5-of-6 on face-offs with a game-high nine ground balls.

The Battlers were led by reserve Jonathan Carr's game-high six-point scoring performance that included five goals and one assist. Attack Keir Yonge also registered five points on two goals and a game-high three assists.

Both goalkeepers - UDC's Patrick Payne and AB's Dom Moriarty - finished with 11 saves each, with Payne allowing four fewer goals to pick up the victory.

Alderson-Broaddus jumped out to a 2-0 lead with back-to-back goals within a span of less than one minute at 12:17 and 11:27 by Nicholas Williams and Carr, respectively. Lumb put UDC on the board about five-and-a-half minutes into the action with his first of three goals off of an assist by junior attack Chase Fraser. Just under a minute later, Nash evened the score at 2 with an unassisted man-up goal at 8:30. Later, following AB's Joseph Collins' goal at 4:16, LaRon Hinton forced the game's second tie at 3 with an unassisted goal at 2:33, and that is where the score stood at the end of the first quarter.

Celentano helped set the tone for a dominant second quarter of play by the Firebirds when he won the opening face-off and charged right down the field for his first goal of the day to give UDC its first lead, 4-3. A little over a minute later, Carr assisted Connor Abrams on another game-tying goal, knotting the score at four apiece. UDC, however, would go on to score the game's next three goals and ultimately out-score the hosts 4-2 in the period as the Firebirds won 6-of-7 face-offs, doubled-up the Battlers in shots, 16-8, won 13 ground balls to AB's four, and were a perfect 5-of-5 on clear attempts.

First, Lumb scored a man-up, unassisted goal at 10:11, then following a near five-minute scoring drought, Michael King scored on another man-up situation off of an assist by Tyler Mace. Just nine seconds after that, Celentano added his 2^nd goal of the day off yet another face-off win to put the Firebirds up, 7-4. UDC was 2-of-4 in man-up situations in the period while holding the Battlers scoreless on two tries. AB's Yonge would score the final goal of the 2^nd quarter to make it 7-5 at halftime.

Not quite a minute into the action in the 3^rd quarter, Carr made it a one-goal game, 7-6, with a goal off of an assist by Joseph Collins. But, Celentano would win the ensuing faceoff, rush down the field and dish to an open Lumb for a response goal just 11 seconds later. Then only a minute after that, Thompson-Marshall ripped his first goal of the day to extend the Firebirds' lead back up to three, 9-6. Thompson-Marshall went on to score a hat trick in the 3^rd quarter alone, and UDC outscored its host 5-3 in the period to take a 12-8 advantage heading into the final quarter.

The Firebirds padded their lead to six by scoring the first two goals of the 4^th quarter, and though they were out-scored 4-2 the rest of the way, still went on to win by a four-goal margin.

Next up, UDC will host East Coast Conference foe and No. 7 nationally-ranked New York Institute of Technology on Saturday, March 19^th.