On the strength of a record-setting nine goals from forward Luke Pilcher, the Armory (4-1) cruised to a 21-12 victory over the Hawkeyes (3-2) Monday night at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena. The win moved Armory atop the Upstate Collegiate Box Lacrosse League (UCBLL) standings.
Not only was it the best individual performance of the season for Pilcher, who also assisted on three other tallies to cap his impressive 12-point performance to help the Armory improve to 4-1 on the season, but the Armory’s 21 goals were the most in the UCBLL this season.
Rioux Johnson (1+7), Kaleb Benedict (4+3), Derek Kohut (2+1) and Jeremy Jacob (1+2) all notched multi-point efforts in the win. Jarmani Benton, Casey McDermott and Lars Stout recorded a goal to complete the scoring. The Armory crease was manned by goaltender William Dempsey (4-1), who notched his fourth win of the season in five starts my making 36 saves in the win.
Forward Koleton Marquis, who had a game-high six points (4+2) in his first game of the season against the Armory on July 1, nearly duplicated that performance as he paced the Hawkeyes offense with five points (3+2). Nicholas Miller (3+1), Trevor Hill (2+3) and Conner Fingar (2+1) all had a multi-goal night, respectively. Forwards Ayden Mowry (1+0) and Gavin Hill (1+0) added a goal apiece to the scoresheet, while forward Mason Homer (0+2) notched two assists throughout the contest.
The goaltending tandem of Kyle Meagher (2-1) and Tehonatake Nicholas (1-1) combined to stopped 27 of 48 but Nicholas took the loss.
WATCH: GAME HIGHLIGHTS
In the first quarter, Marquis began the scoring only to have the Armory counter with three straight goals in less than three minutes. Prior to the end of the opening frame, the Hawkeyes made it a 3-3 game before Pilcher exploded for five of the Armory’s next 11 tallies, which included a natural hat trick in 2:03.
Armory’s onslaught opened up a commanding 14-4 advantage entering the half thanks to a 11-1 run during the second quarter.
The Armory tacked on two more from Benedict and Pilcher before the Hawkeyes chipped into the 16-5 deficit as they scored five of the next seven goals to bring the score to 18-9 going into the final frame.
Benedict pushed the lead to 12 before Fingar scored his two tallies while Miller rounded out the scoring for the Hawkeyes with 4:12 left in the contest.
Prior to the final horn sounding, Pilcher and Stout both found the back of the net to complete the 21-12 rout.
The Upstate College Box Lacrosse League’s next game is slated for Wednesday, July 14 at 7 p.m. as the Hawkeyes and Buffaloes face-off at The Classic Rink in Buffalo.