SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Ryan Grace scored five goals and added an assist to lead the Lebanon Valley men's lacrosse team to a big 12-4 victory at Susquehanna University on Wednesday afternoon at Sassafras Field in Selinsgrove.
 
The Flying Dutchmen (5-1) got off to a great start as Kellen Markley saved the first shot on goal of the game, and after a quick clear, Grace worked his way towards the crease and fired in a shot for the first goal of the game. The defense came up big by forcing a shot clock violation, and Rowan Myers scored 45 seconds later to push the lead to 2-0 with 10:29 on the clock. The Dutchmen nearly scored again as Sean Poole hit the post after Connor Rowe won the faceoff and put a shot wide.
 
Susquehanna cut the lead in half, scoring a goal with 6:17 remaining. The teams battled up and down the field over the next few minutes, and LVC earned the first extra-man opportunity of the game with 2:25 on the clock. Dylan Rinyak had a shot saved, leading to the River Hawks getting the ball with about 90 seconds left. Montgomery Sensenig forced a turnover, and Nick Geason picked up a ground ball as the Dutchmen cleared the ball up the field quickly. Sam Spagnuolo had a shot saved right before the period expired.
 
LVC had a big second quarter to pull away from the River Hawks. After forcing turnovers on Susquehanna's first two offensive possessions, Grace worked his way from behind the crease and scored his second goal of the game. The Dutchmen kept the defensive pressure on as Branden Manderbach and Sensenig caused turnovers. A couple of minutes later, Grace scored again as he intercepted a pass in front of the goal and fired a shot into the empty net. It didn't take long for the sophomore to find the back of the net again as Poole found him open for his fourth goal of the game to make it 5-1.
 
Myers caused a turnover off the faceoff, picked up the ground ball, and fired a shot into the back of the net for a goal to make it 6-1 with 9:12 left in the half. The River Hawks called a timeout to try to stop the momentum of the Dutchmen. Jacob LaRue Gleason, and Ethan Keenan caused turnovers, keeping the hosts off the board over the next few minutes. The Dutchmen cleared the ball and called a timeout with a little under five minutes to play. Wyatt Shamer found Jacob Olson over the middle for a goal out of the timeout to push the advantage to six. The River Hawks were able to cut the deficit to 7-2 with a goal a couple of minutes later. The score remained the same through the end of the half.
 
Rain began to fall to start the second half, but that didn't stop LVC as Rinyak had a shot blocked and then he scored a minute later off an assist by Hayden Carling. The advantage increased to seven a few minutes later as Poole found Keenan open in front of the crease. Neither team scored over the next four minutes as the rain started to come down a little bit harder.
 
Gleason picked up a ground ball and, after a quick clear attempt, Grace connected with Poole for the team's 10th goal. Susquehanna answered a little over a minute later with its first goal of the half to cut the lead to 10-3 with 3:53 on the clock. Connor Sample caused a turnover and picked up the ground ball in the midfield, and Grace scored his fifth goal of the game with 17 seconds to play to give the Dutchmen an 11-3 lead after three quarters.
 
The River Hawks put pressure on the defense to begin the fourth as Markley came up with a pair of saves in the first minute. The Dutchmen added to the lead as Poole scored his second goal of the game off a feed by Myers with just over 12 minutes left to play. The River Hawks controlled possession over the next five minutes, but the defense held strong, forcing two turnovers and a shot clock violation.
 
The River Hawks scored the final goal of the game with 6:51 remaining to make it 12-4. The teams battled over the next two minutes until a lightning delay paused the game with 4:32 left. Once the teams retook the field after the 30-minute break, LVC held the ball on offense and received a save by Markley and a caused turnover by Peck to close out the game.
 
Inside the Box

• Grace tied his season-high with five goals on a game-high 12 shots. He recorded his fourth consecutive hat trick. The sophomore put six shots on goal and had a team-high five ground balls.
• Poole had another great game with four points on two goals and two assists. The senior has scored in all five victories this season.
• Myers added two goals and an assist for three points. He recorded his 50th career point and has scored in every game this season. The junior has recorded at least one assist in each of the last four games.
• Olson scored for the second consecutive game while Keenan and Rinyak added a goal each. Keenan scored his 10th goal of the year on two shots while Rinyak tallied the 10th goal of his career.
• Carling continued his point streak with his team-leading 11th assist of the year.
• Rowe won eight faceoffs and picked up five ground balls with one caused turnover.
• The defense caused a season-high 15 turnovers as Gleason and Sensenig led the way with three apiece. Gleason also had four ground balls, while Sheadan Makosy had four.
• Markley made nine saves in the net and picked up two ground balls.
• The Dutchmen had a 39-27 shot advantage and were 25-27 on clear attempts.
• The win was the program's second-ever victory over Susquehanna in 10 meetings and the first in Selinsgrove.

Up Next
LVC will be back in action on Saturday as they host Immaculata University at 1 p.m. on Arnold Field. The game will serve as the team's annual Crosse Out Cancer game.

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