'NORTON, MA- In a rematch of last year's Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament final, the Wheaton College men's lacrosse team held close with a Keene State College team that was averaging more than 12 goals per game before falling, 8-3 on Tuesday in Mirrione Stadium. The Lyons opened their home slate by falling to 1-6, while the Owls, who are receiving votes in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) national poll, moved to 7-0.

Wheaton held a 9-6 advantage in shots during the opening quarter, but it was the Owls who made the most of their opportunities. After the Lyons held the visitors off the board for nearly the opening five minutes, junior Peter Lauranzano (Beverly, MA/Beverly) found the back of the net at 10:06 to begin an Owl run of three straight goals in a matter of 5:32. However, the Lyons responded with their lone first-half goal just 1:30 after Keene State's third marker, as freshman Drew Schaffer (New Haven, CT/Loomis Chaffee School) tallied with 3:04 to go.

The Lyons buckled down defensively from there, yielding only a Keene State tally just before halftime during a 30:02 span. Wheaton received a goal from junior Richie Rasamny (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) with 4:57 left in the third to bring the hosts within 4-2, but the Owls scored three times during a 2:50 span, beginning with junior Mike Fontaine's (Wolfeboro, NH/Kingswood Regional) tally just 27 seconds after Rasamny's. Sophomore Tony Santa Fe (Derry, NH/Pinkerton Academy) scored the final two goals of that stretch.

Wheaton freshman Tim Horan (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) made it a 7-3 game heading into the fourth thanks to a goal with 26 ticks left in the third, but Lauranzano scored the lone tally of the final period at 10:21.

"It took us awhile get to going because we had to adjust to the slow grass surface," said KSC Coach Mark Theriault.  "I thought Mike Fontaine had a breakout game for us and long pole defenders Kevin McCarthy, Ron Ward, and Kyle Barnett had a storng game in front of goalie Matt Johnson."

The Lyons were narrowly outshot by the Owls, 24-23, as freshman Schuyler Horn (New Hartford, CT/Kingswood-Oxford School) and junior Jeremy Beech (West Newbury, MA/Governor Dummer Academy) each made five saves in one half of work. Horan finished with two points.

Fontaine tallied a hat trick for Keene State, while Santa Fe had two goals and an assist. Lauranzano contributed two markers, and junior Matt Johnson (Derry, NH/Pinkerton Academy) made 10 stops.

Keene State returns to Little East play at UMass-Boston on Saturday (1 p.m.)Wheaton's final seven regular season games are against Pilgrim League foes, beginning with the Lyons' contest against visiting Norwich University on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

(Courtesy Wheaton Sports Information)