Box Score WHITTIER, Calif. – Apparently, a trip to the west coast was exactly what the Swarthmore College men's lacrosse team needed to kick start its 2013 campaign.
Behind a combined 10 goals from senior captain Steve Selverian and sophomore Ian Lukaszewicz, the Garnet (1-3) defeated Whittier College by a score of 12-9 on Wednesday evening.
Selverian and Lukaszewicz each scored a career-high five goals. Senior Wes Marcik added the Garent's two other tallies.
Junior goalie Jonathan Cohen made 11 saves while junior Zach Schaffer finished with a career-best seven caused turnovers and seven ground balls.
In its first game of Spring Break, the Garnet came out on fire. Selverian netted two goals in the first seven minutes of play to give Swat the early 2-0 advantage.
Ahead 2-1 entering the second quarter, Swarthmore continued to dominate the play. Lukaszewicz tallied his first score 45 seconds into the second quarter, putting Swat ahead 3-1. Just moments later, Selverian completed the hat trick -- just a 18 minutes into the contest– when he scored from in front of the goal while drawing a Whittier penalty to make it 4-1 Swarthmore. Following a pair of Poet goals and one more goal from Lukaszewicz, Swarthmore took a 6-3 lead into the lockerroom.
In the third period, Lukaszewicz and Selverian helped Swat maintain its lead despite better play from the Poets. Lukaszewicz scored just 46 seconds into the second half off an assist from
Jonathan Molloy, while Selverian scored his fourth goal of the game with an assist from Lukaszewicz at the 7:14 mark. Ahead 8-6, Lukaszewicz capped the quarter's scoring on a highlight-reel goal, as his BTB shot found the back of the net and made it 9-6.
In the fourth quarter, the Garnet held off a late Poet rally preserve the win. With Swarthmore ahead 11-7 and just under five minutes to play, Whittier's Eric Omri scored two goals 90 seconds apart to cut the Garnet lead to 11-9. But with the pressure on, Swarthmore held firm to secure its first win of the season. Cohen made a huge stop on a shot by Whittier's Danny Prevedel with 2:26 to play and Selverian sealed it with goal with 15 seconds remaining.
The Garnet defense played an all-around outstanding game, forcing 29 Poet turnovers. Along with Schaffer, junior Geli Carabases finished with four caused turnovers and sophomore Darrel Hunter added three.
The Garnet close out Spring Break on Friday against Keene State.
