MARCY, N.Y. (March 27, 2021) – The SUNY Delhi men's lacrosse team suffered a sudden defeat in overtime to SUNY Poly by a 9-8 score in a battle of NAC West powers on Saturday. The Broncos overcame an early 3-0 deficit with six straight goals over the first, second, and third periods. The Wildcats responded with three unanswered scores to start the fourth quarter tied at 6-6 and held an 8-7 lead before Delhi's Greg Junge netted the tying goal to force overtime at 8-8 with 2:38 to play in regulation. The Wildcats' Brody Guido ended the contest with his game-high third goal with 3:08 to go in the overtime period.
Saturday's extended affair pitted Delhi and Poly together for the first time as conference foes. The Wildcats, who had won the last two meetings from the 2018 and 2019 seasons, were voted first in the 2021 NAC West Preseason Poll, while the Broncos were ranked third. Both teams did their part last weekend in their NAC West openers, with Delhi beating Cobleskill 24-7 and Poly topping SUNY Canton 15-10. The Wildcats currently hold the lead in the division standing with a 2-0 NAC West record, with the two set to rematch on Saturday, April 17.
The Wildcats pounced on an early 3-0 lead with scores from Bennett Smith, Rhett Stauffer, and a man-up goal from Ryan Mead. Brandon McGrath got Delhi on the board with the first of his two-goal day with 3:21 to play in the first period. The Broncos defense then clamped down, leaving Poly scoreless for roughly the next 36 minutes, as Logan Bauer, Aidan Costello, and Michael Tullo each provided second-quarter scores to lead 4-3 at halftime. McGrath and Bauer each took advantage of man-up opportunities in the third quarter with scores to put Delhi up 6-3 entering the fourth quarter.
Poly grabbed the momentum right back in the fourth quarter with four unanswered scores, starting with a man-up goal by Guido, then scores by Smith, Ed Rosaschi, and Guido again to lead 7-6 with 7:18 to go in the fourth. King White found the back of the net to tie the game up at seven, which was countered with a Poly go-ahead score by Andrew Maycock with 4:34 to go in regulation. Junge replied with the game-tying score on an assist from McGrath to force overtime. Nearly two minutes into overtime, Guido ran down the right wing with two defenders on him and fired a shot over the shoulder of goalie James Sullivan for the game-winner. Guido had six points on three goals and three assists to lead the game.
Sullivan finished the day with 11 saves in his first full game in net. The defense collaborated for 12 caused turnovers and tallying one team save. The Broncos settled for 8-of-14 on clears to the Wildcats' 15-of-18, while winning 11 of 20 faceoffs, courtesy of Nick Dower's eight wins and three from Nick Scarpa. Delhi pulled through on 3-of-8 man-up chances to Poly's 2-of-3. The Wildcats led in shots, 38-33.
McGrath led the Broncos with four points on two goals and two assists. Bauer registered a two-goal day, while King White charted one goal and one assist, along with Nicholas Iannucci and Jack McClurg each delivering one assist.
Head Coach Sam Miller's team heads to SUNY Canton for their next NAC West challenge Saturday, April 3.
