Men's Lacrosse vs. St. Thomas Aquinas College, 3-4-17
Celentano produced an impressive performance winning (17-of-24) face-offs, along with one goal, and two assists.

Firebirds Clinch Convincing Win, 16-6 Against Hampton

HAMPTON, VA – The University of the District of Columbia men's lacrosse team won for a 2nd straight year against Division I rivals Hampton University, with the Firebirds coming out on top with a 16-6 score on Friday afternoon at Armstrong Stadium.

The Firebirds (2-0) have started the season off with another resounding victory. UDC has already scored a total of 37 goals in their first two games. The win today saw sophomore attack Edmund Taylor lead with five goals and one assist in another strong showing that takes his points total to 13 in the first two games as well as impressive performance by senior midfielder Teilen Celentano who won (17-of-24) face-offs to propel the Firebirds attack, along with his one goal, and two assists.

However, the District of Columbia proved just as effective defensively with junior goalkeeper Nikolas Lund-Murray making a fantastic 15 saves to stand strong in between the net.

Division I  Hampton and Divison II UDC faced off one year ago for a historic match-up between the only two HBCU'S in the NCAA to play men's lacrosse. The Hampton pirates now (0-2) for the season with today's loss were led by freshman attack Derian Williams-Sturdivant who had one goal and two assists. Goalkeeper Kevin Mondy, Jr. stopped 7 of 23 shots to go 0-2 today.

UDC got off to a great start when freshman attack Turner Allison grabbed the 1st goal of the game to give the Firebirds the momentum, and he went on to gather four goals and one assist to add to his striking first season. The District of Columbia came out strong with four more goals to end the first quarter 5-1.

With the game in the Firebirds control, and not conceding anything in the 2nd quarter, UDC took a 9-1 lead into the 2nd half.  The 2nd half proved much the same as the District of Columbia were relentless in front of goal as Taylor shot four of his five goals in the last two quarters. With the final score at 16-6, the Firebirds will be seeking more of the same from the team offensively and defensively.

The Firebirds were out-shot 40-38 by Hampton, although, UDC won 14-5 groundballs, 16-9 turnovers, and went 4-0 on man-up opportunities.

Next, UDC will visit Wilmington University on Tuesday, February 27th at 3:00 PM.