Firebirds Men’s Lacrosse Earns Program’s Historic First Win in University of the District of Columbia’s First Home Game

March 15, 2014

Recap | Box Score

Junior attack Ben Taylor had a season-high five goals. (Photo courtesy of Hunter McKay)

FINAL	1	2	3	4	T
Dominican (N.Y.) (0-4, 0-1 ECC)	1	2	2	1	6
Dist. Columbia (1-3, 1-1 ECC)	2	2	2	5	11

DOMINICAN (N.Y.)	DIST. COLUMBIA
G: McGregor,Sean - 3	G: Ben Taylor - 5
A: 2 Players (#4, #40 - 1)	A: 2 Players (#0, #19 - 2)
Sv: Quinones,Matthew - 22	Sv: Tom Yancheski - 15
GB: Smithwick,Jake - 3	GB: Luke Gillespie - 6

TEAM STATISTICS	DOMINICAN (N.Y.)	DIST. COLUMBIA
Shots	34	57
Ground Balls	8	21
Saves	22	15
Clears	22-26	20-25
Turnovers	24	20
Face Offs Won	10	10
Man Up	0-3	1-6

full stats

WASHINGTON, DC – In the first lacrosse game ever hosted by the University of the District of Columbia, the Firebirds men's lacrosse team earned the first-year program's historic first victory, 11-6 over East Coast Conference foe Dominican College on Saturday, March 15^th at Georgetown Multi-Sport Field.

Junior attack Ben Taylor (Biology – New Westminster, BC/Simon Fraser University) scored three of his game-high five goals and freshman standout Chase Fraser (Elementary Education – Aldergrove, BC/Blue Ridge School) assisted two of them while adding a goal of his own, all during the fourth quarter when UDC outscored Dominican, 5-1 to put what was a close game out of reach.

The Firebirds, who also got a hat trick from freshman midfielder Connor Lloyd (Architecture – Clifton, VA/James W. Robinson HS) and 15 saves by junior goalie Tom Yancheski (Sociology – Phoenix, MD/Harford), improved to 1-3 overall and evened its ECC record at 1-1 with today's win. Dominican, led offensively today by Sean McGregor's three goals, fell to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in league play. Goalie Matthew Quinones made 22 saves and allowed 11 goals in a losing effort.

Taylor scored the game's first goal near the midpoint of the first quarter, finishing right in front of the net off of an assist by freshman midfielder Josh Norton (Graphic Design – Eagle, Idaho/Eagle HS). A little over a minute later, Thomas Dertinger answered for Dominican to even the score at one apiece. With a little over four minutes remaining in the quarter, Norton added his own goal to put the Firebirds back in front, 2-1. They would take that narrow 2-1 lead at quarter's end despite a 16-10 shot advantage.

Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Lloyd tallied his first of three goals to give the Firebirds a two-goal cushion, 3-1. But back-to-back goals by Dominican's McGregor and Tanner Olsen in a span of under one minute  helped the Chargers pull even at the 12:29 mark.

A quick response by Taylor for his second goal of the game helped UDC re-claim the lead, 4-3, but that was the final scoring of the first half. The Firebirds doubled-up Dominican, 14-7 in shots in the second quarter (30-13 in the first half) but only managed a 4-3 lead at the break.

The Firebirds' shooting onslaught continued in the third quarter as the Firebirds out-shot Dominican 18-8, but once again they had little to show for it. Quinton Pavan (Childhood Education – Port Coquitlam, BC/Blue Ridge HS) scored the first goal of the third quarter at the 8:29 mark and Lloyd tallied the final goal of the quarter with 3:12 remaining off a Pavan assist. Dominican's McGregor and Theodore Wright each scored in between those two UDC goals to force a 5-5 tie before Lloyd's goal gave the Firebirds their fourth different lead of the day.

Lloyd's third and final goal of the day at the 9:13 mark of the fourth quarter set the tone for what proved to be a dominant final nine minutes by the Firebirds. During a span of less than three minutes, the dynamic duo of Taylor and Fraser combined for four consecutive Firebird goals as UDC took a commanding, 11-5 lead with 4:15 remaining. Dominican's McGregor tallied his third and final goal with 2:37 left to play to end the scoring, as UDC won by a comfortable five-goal margin.  

Next up, the Firebirds visit Hood College on March 19^th at 3:30 p.m.