MORRISVILLE, N.Y. (March 14, 2021) – After a lengthy, year-long hiatus, the SUNY Delhi men's lacrosse team made its much-anticipated return to intercollegiate competition Sunday afternoon at Morrisville State. In a game that took place in snowglobe-like elements, Aidan Costello led the Broncos with two goals, while King White and Greg Junge contributed one goal apiece as the Broncos took a 9-4 defeat.
While both sides matched up closely, a few key Morrisville performances proved to be the difference. The Mustangs, who also began their season, quickly opened the festivities with three goals in the opening three-and-a-half minutes. The first two came from Roman Reiss, who would finish with four of Morrisville's scores, and the third coming from Chris Picciott to start his two-goal afternoon. Costello returned the favor with his first score of the day during a man-down situation. It would stand as Delhi's only score of the half, however, as the Broncos' potent offense that outshot Morrisville, 40-24, was matched with a 20-save performance by goalie Dylan LaPlace. Morrisville took advantage with four unanswered goals, holding a 7-1 lead by the third quarter. This stretch featured Reiss' third goal of the contest and the first two of Mustang Evan Kistner's three-goal day.
White broke the Broncos' silence to cut things down to five on a man-up opportunity. Reiss' fourth goal for Morrisville soon followed, which was countered by Costello's second score during a man-up chance, assisted by Logan Bauer, with just 1.4 seconds left in the third quarter to make things 8-3 entering the fourth. Junge got the Broncos even closer with his score just under ten minutes remaining, but it would be Delhi's last score of the afternoon. Kistner scored one more for Morrisville before the final horn.
Broncos goalie Dante Restaino started in goal, gathering four saves before newcomer James Sullivan took over in the second half, also collecting four saves. The Broncos and Mustangs split their 16 faceoffs, with starter Nick Dower winning five and sophomore Nick Scarpa coming out with the ball three times. Delhi converted on 21-of-33 clear chances to Morrisville's 23-of-34, while the Broncos pulled through on 2-of-15 extra-man chances to the Mustangs' 1-of-10.
SUNY Delhi begins its North Atlantic Conference season next weekend versus SUNY Cobleskill.
