DELHI, N.Y. (March 19, 2019) – Win number five for the SUNY Delhi men's lacrosse team came in heart-pounding fashion Tuesday afternoon against SUNY Cobleskill. A 7-3 Broncos lead at halftime vanished by way of five consecutive Fighting Tigers goals in less than a five-minute span in the third quarter, as Delhi trailed, 8-7. The Broncos answered with two goals to end the third, and broke a 9-9 fourth-quarter tie with two late goals to seal an 11-9 victory. Head coach Sam Miller's team extended their win streak to five games to stand at 5-2 on the season.
Tuesday's matinee contest marked a career milestone for senior and team-leading scorer Malik Talbert, whose first goal of his three-goal, one-assist day gave him his 100th career point. Talbert reached the historic mark in just three years with the program. He leads the NAC with 28 points and is tied with teammate John Rohan for the conference lead with 21 goals. Rohan finished with one goal and two assists against Cobleskill.
The Broncos came out of the gate strong, scoring the first three goals and leading, 4-1, after one. Freshman Travis Biggs scored two of Delhi's first three goals, getting the team on the board just 55 seconds in. Rohan followed with his lone goal over a minute later, then Biggs connecting again with 7:18 remaining in the first. The Fighting Tigers answered with a Kieran Tierney score, only for Brandon McGrath to close out the quarter with the first of his two-goal day. After a quiet first couple of minutes in the second, Tierney got one back for Cobleskill to cut Delhi's lead to 4-2 with 8:41 left in the half. Jacob Nygard put the Broncos back up by three with a goal just over a minute-and-a-half later. After Cobleskill's Edwin Martinez put the visitors back to within two, Talbert responded with two straight goals to close out the half. He cleared the 100-point milestone with his first goal with 5:32 left, then celebrated with a man-up goal with 4:21 left before halftime for the four-goal lead at intermission.
The Fighting Tigers struck back with a vengeance in the third quarter. Following five full scoreless minutes to start the half, Cobleskill mauled Delhi for five straight goals within a span of 4:33 to lead, 8-7, with 5:27 remaining in the quarter. McGrath got the game back even, connecting on an assist from Talbert. On the ensuing faceoff, Nick Dower, who won 11 faceoffs on the day, scooped up the ball and marched down the field to deliver a straight-on strike to give Delhi a 9-8 lead after three. Cobleskill refused to go away, with Edwin Martinez scoring on a man-down goal to start the fourth-quarter scoring tying things up at 9-9 with 9:19 to play. The Broncos refused to let the lead slip from them this time, as goalie Travis Anderson and the defense hunkered down to shut out the Fighting Tigers the rest of the way. Biggs awarded the defense's effort with a man-up goal with 4:00 to go to give Delhi the lead for good. Talbert then closed out his historic day putting the game out of reach with a goal with 1:29 remaining.
MLAX: Our big highlights from today's 11-9 win over Cobleskill. Malik Talbert reaches the 100 career point milestone with his first goal of the day! Then after Delhi tied the game at 8-8, Nick Dower wins his faceoff and cruises down the field to put the Broncos ahead! #DelhiDrive pic.twitter.com/iSrx74SXWj
— SUNY Delhi Broncos (@DelhiBroncos) March 19, 2019
Anderson finished with five saves on 14 shots faced, as the three-time defending NAC weekly award winner improved to 5-2 on the season, and continues to lead the NAC with an 8.73 goals allowed average. Travis Biggs led Delhi with five points on three goals and two assists, while McGrath had three points on two goals and one assist. The Broncos outshot Cobleskill, 39-33, while converting on 16-of-19 clear attempts to the Fighting Tigers' 18-of-36. Delhi also forced its visitors into 30 turnovers, and cashed in on 2-of-5 extra-man opportunities.
Coach Miller's Broncos are back in NAC action this Saturday, traveling to face Husson at 12:00 p.m. They then will be back in New York State for their next three games, starting at SUNY Poly Wednesday, Mar. 27, followed by hosting Thomas in a league game Saturday, Mar. 30 and Houghton on Wednesday, April 3.
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