Men's Lacrosse falls in home opener to Cornell

St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne University men's lacrosse finally reached their home opener in the middle of March on a cold night. The Griffins hosted Midwest Lacrosse Conference foe Cornell College where they fell 19-5.

Fontbonne trailed 4-0 before the hosts put one in the back of the net. With time about to expire on the clear, Matt Rech launched a long ball about 10 feet to the top right of Fontbonne's defensive goal which cleared the length of the field and found Brian Nguyen for a one-on-one against Cornell's goalkeeper. Nguyen netted his fifth goal of the season.

The Griffins would be held scoreless for the next 33 minutes before Michael Picciolo served up Zach Griffth with 2:14 left in the third period. The Griffins didn't give up and after trailing 19-2, headed into the final frame, Fontbonne's Jack Carroll saved six shots to hold the Rams scoreless in the fourth quarter while the Griffins netted three goals. Those goals were from Rech, Dalton Tegue and Picciolo.

In the game, Carroll totalled 19 saves. The Griffins did a much better job clearing the ball than they've done all season, going 21-29 on the night. Picciolo led the Griffins with two assists and a goal while Trevor Kubiak and Nguyen each tallied six ground balls.

Today's game was the first of a three-game home stand for the Griffins. Fontbonne hosts Millsaps on Monday, March 13 at 7 p.m.