Firebirds Men’s Lacrosse Drops Season Finale vs. Roberts Wesleyan

WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia men's lacrosse team was defeated by East Coast Conference foe Roberts Wesleyan, 18-9 on a cold and rainy Senior Night, Saturday, April 25^th at Georgetown Multi-Sport Field.

The Firebirds (2-9, 1-7 ECC) honored seniors Dom Perera, Ben Taylor, Phil Foster, Stevens Cadet and Kamaal Stanley in a ceremony before the game.  Taylor finished the night with an assist, Cadet registered a goal and an assist, Stanley had team-highs of seven ground balls and three caused turnovers, and Foster had one caused turnover in their final collegiate games at UDC.

Meanwhile, sophomore standout attack Chase Fraser led the way offensively with five points on four goals and one assist. Zach Kjeldsen, Brock Thompson-Marshall, Josh Norton and Russel Lloyd all added a goal apiece as well.

Roberts Wesleyan (4-11, 2-6 ECC) was led by the 9^th leading scorer in the East Coast Conference, Dom Cianfarano, who registered seven points on six goals and one assist. Matt Benedict added six points on four goals and two assists, Mike Hubert also had six points on three goals and three assists, and Brady Bermingham added a hat trick in goals as well.

The Redhawks' Keith Kheehn, the ECC leader in saves and 5^th ranked keeper in save percentage, stopped 15-of-22 shots (68.2-percent) faced in 50 minutes of action to earn the victory. UDC junior goalkeeper Pat Payne fell to 2-9 on the year as he stopped 14 shots while allowing 18 goals for a save percentage of 43.8.

Both teams were scoreless through nearly the first seven-and-a-half minutes of play before Cianfarano scored the first of his several goals to open the scoring. He added another near the two minute mark and Hubert scored a pair at 4:50 and the 17-second mark in the period, as the visiting Redhawks raced out to a 4-0 lead at the end of one period.

Benedict got in on the scoring act less than 30 seconds into the second period, but a little over a minute later, Fraser sparked a 3-0 Firebirds surge with the first and 3^rd goals of a run that spanned less than three minutes and brought UDC within two, 5-3. Roberts Wesleyan would answer, however, with a 4-0 run that ended with back-to-back goals by Cianfarano. Fraser then scored both the final two goals of the period at the 2:39 mark and the 15-second mark to close the gap to 9-5 as the teams headed off of the field for intermission.

As has been the case throughout the season, the third quarter proved UDC's undoing, as the Redhawks out-scored the Firebirds 7-1 and extended their lead to 16-6. Bermingham had three goals and Cianfarano had two to lead Roberts Wesleyan in the 3^rd period.

Brock Thompson-Marshall entered the scoring column a little over two minutes into the final period, but Benedict scored consecutive goals for RWC at 11:24 and 6:05 to give the Redhawks their largest lead of the night, 18-7. Kjeldsen and Cadet scored in succession at 3:04 and the 25-second mark, but UDC ultimately fell by a nine-goal margin.