ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley men's lacrosse team held visiting Wilkes University scoreless in the second half to rally from an early 3-0 deficit for a 10-7 victory over the Colonels on a wet Wednesday afternoon at Arnold Field.
 
Wilkes jumped out to the early lead with three goals in the first 5:05 of play. The Dutchmen got on the board with 6:09 left in the opening quarter as Colin Hughes scored 21 seconds into an extra man opportunity off a feed from John Lux. Alex Kiviniemi cut the lead down to one with his first goal of the game off an assist by Rowan Myers with 3:36 to play in the period. The Colonels responded with a goal to take a 4-2 lead into the second quarter.
 
LVC was able to tie the game up at four with a pair of goals in the first five minutes. Myers fired a shot into the back of the net off a pass from Kiviniemi before Jake Bollinger scored off another assist by Kiviniemi. The Colonels had a quick response as they retook the lead 13 seconds after Bollinger's goal. They added an unassisted goal with 7:49 left and then scored again with four minutes on the clock to build the lead back up to three goals. Bollinger found the back of the net off an assist by Trey Ralston to cut the lead to 7-5 heading into the break.
 
The Dutchmen defense put the lockdown on the Colonels in the second half as Wilkes was held to just three shots in the third quarter and six in the fourth. Kellen Markley made five of his 15 saves in the final 30 minutes including five in the fourth quarter. Neither team was able to score in the fourth quarter until Ralston found Myers for a man-up goal 12 seconds into a two-man advantage with 12 seconds remaining in the quarter.
 
LVC won the opening faceoff to begin the fourth and got the ball into the stick of Kiviniemi who evened the score up with an unassisted goal. Markley made a pair of great saves before Ralson gave the Dutchmen the lead with a goal off an assist by Hayden Carling with 8:45 on the clock. Kiviniemi and Ralston teamed up to complete a hat trick for Kiviniemi with just over six to play. A minute later Carling got in on the fun with an unassisted goal. LVC withstood a late rally attempt by the Colonels with Markley stopping back-to-back shots from close range before Zach Wanous forced a turnover and picked up the ground ball with two minutes left to get LVC back the ball to close out the contest.
 
Inside the Box

• Kiviniemi recorded his second consecutive hat trick and led the Dutchmen with five points on three goals and two assists. The midfielder put six of his game-high 13 shots on goal.
• Ralston had four points on a goal and three assists. He leads the team with eight assists this year.
• Myers equaled his season-high of three points on two goals and an assist.
• Bollinger had two goals to give him 14 on the year. He is currently second in program history with 164 points.
• Carling had a goal and an assist.
• Wanous led the defense with three caused turnovers and four ground balls.
• Sheadan Makosy caused two turnovers and picked up three ground balls.
• Miles Snyder won 12 of 18 faceoff attempts and picked up four ground balls.
• Markley made 15 saves in goal to earn the win.

Up Next
LVC will be off for a week before returning to action next Wednesday with a short trip north to Susquehanna University. Game time is schedule for 4 p.m. in Selinsgrove.

Stay Connected
Be sure to follow @lvcathletics on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage of LVC athletics.