Manchester, N.H. – Senior midfielder Colin Sypek (Lake Worth, Fla./American Heritage School (Delray Beach)) tallied three points to lead the top-ranked Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team to a 7-5 victory over ninth-ranked Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Grappone Stadium.
 
"Very happy with our defensive effort today," said head coach Dan Sheehan. "That is a very good team with offensive weapons all over the field.  Still much room for improvement at both ends but an excellent way to open NE10 conference play."

Saint Anselm opened the game's scoring midway through the first quarter as Thomas Ackil scored his third goal of the season at the 7:09 mark off a pass from Noah Larsen.

The Dolphins, who won their NE10 opener for the 15th straight year and for the 25th time in their 26 years in the conference, answered back with two goals to take their first lead. From the right alley, Sypek netted his fifth goal of the year just 57 seconds after Ackil's goal off a feed from graduate student midfielder Ben McCreary (Cicero, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy). The two connected again with 2:26 to go in the quarter for Sypek's sixth marker of the season.

The Hawks, who suffered their first regular season loss since April 13, 2019 – a streak of 19 games, evened the score at the 11:47 mark of the second quarter as Jack Wells posted his fourth goal of the year off a pass from Colin Mulvey.

Le Moyne took advantage of a Saint Anselm penalty to regain the lead heading into halftime. Off a feed from redshirt senior midfielder Zach Pierce (Gansevoort, N.Y./Schuylerville/Onondaga C.C.), graduate student attackman Carter Collins (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake/Lindenwood) found the back of the net with 1:03 remaining.

The Dolphins took their first two-goal lead midway through the third quarter. Following another penalty on the Hawks, sophomore midfielder Seth Benedict (Stanley, N.Y./) scored from the right alley after collecting a pass from Sypek.

Jack Andrews got the Hawks back within one with 2:10 remaining with his 14th score of the year.

Le Moyne regained its two-goal lead just over seven minutes into the fourth quarter as McCreary scored from the edge of the crease off a drive from behind the net.

Saint Anselm got back within one for the final time with 6:31 left as Sean Tomaszewski scored from the right alley off a pass on a restart by Jack Robinson.

The Dolphins netted the next two goals to open up a three-goal advantage. Graduate student midfielder Evan Kelly (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Aquinas Institute) pushed the lead back to two with 6:04 left with his fourth tally of the campaign. Collins finished off a pass from Pierce in an extra-man situation again with 4:11 to play for his 15th goal of the season.

Robinson posted his fourth goal of the year with 2:30 remaining off a feed from Will Palmer to get the Hawks within two, but that would mark their final shot on goal in the game.

Graduate student goalkeeper Frank Delia (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker/Onondaga C.C.) registered 14 saves, including eight in the second quarter, to collect the victory between the pipes. CJ Hart, last year's USILA Goalkeeper of the Year, tallied 15 saves, including 11 in the first half, in the loss.

Le Moyne (5-1, 1-0 NE10), which has won 17 straight NE10 games, returns to action on Saturday to host Southern New Hampshire University at 2:00 p.m.