Huntingdon, Pa. (Feb. 24, 2024) - Alvernia University Men's Lacrosse (1-0) opened the 2024 season in the win column with a 12-5 victory of Juniata College on Saturday afternoon in non-conference men's lacrosse action at Juniata.

The Golden Wolves jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first half and held Juniata to just three second half goals as Alvernia came away with the 12-5 win.

How it Happened

• The Eagles struck first with an early goal just over two minutes into the action.
• Alvernia responded and closed out the quarter with four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead into the second frame. Ryan Gilman scored Alvernia's first goal of the game and Kenny Howley followed with an unassisted goal with 6:41 to play in the half. Colin McFadyen made it a 3-1 game with a goal off the assist of Kyle Moats, and Ethan McManus closed out the first quarter for Alvernia with a man-up goal off the assist of Peter Capasso. 
• Alvernia kept it rolling in the second quarter and added three to its lead to take a 7-2 lead into the half. Kyle Patton scored twice in the quarter and Moats scored his first of the day.
• Patton opened up the scoring in the third quarter with a goal just under five minutes into the quarter. Juniata got one back to cut Alvernia's lead down to five, 8-3, but Alvernia pushed it back to a six goal game with a goal from McManus.
• The Eagles scored the final goal of the quarter, but Alvernia scored two straight to open the fourth quarter and take an 11-4 lead with 11:45 to play. Jack Keenan and Moats accounted for Alvernia's first two goals of the quarter.
• After an Eagles goal with 5:14 to play, Alvernia closed out the game with a goal from Kenny Howley with four minutes to play for the 12-5 final.

Inside the Box Score

• Kyle Patton led Alvernia with a hat trick, and Ethan McManus also had three points in his first collegiate game off of two goals and an assist.
• Kenny Howley and Kyle Moats were also multi-goal scorers for Alvernia with two goals each.
• Christian Wright finished with a team high-five caused turnovers and also added five ground balls.
• Dane Sabarese in goal and Jack Kenney each finished with a team-high seven ground balls. 
• Kenney went 15-for-20 on the faceoff
• Sabarese made 13 saves in goal for Alvernia en route to the win.

Of Note

• Saturday marked the first ever meeting between Juniata and Alvernia. 
• Patton recorded his second career hat trick for the Golden Wolves. His first game against Widener last season.
• Alvernia finished the afternoon with 21 caused turnovers, its most in a game since causing 27 against LaRoche on March 9, 2019.
• Alvernia was 19-for-26 on the clear and was a perfect 9-for-9 in the second quarter.
• Alvernia had just three penalties in comparison to Juniata's nine.

Up Next

• Alvernia heads to Immaculata to take on the Mighty Macs on Wednesday at 4:00 PM. Alvernia is 3-6 against Immaculata all-time, but the Golden Wolves took last year's matchup 8-7.