ARNOLD, MD – Anne Arundel Community College's men's lacrosse team turned some heads this weekend, taking down NJCAA DI Region 20 rival CCBC Essex, 14-12. Both programs have proven their talents and earned strong reputations with successful pasts, but it was the Riverhawks who came out on top this Saturday. AACC improved to 4-2 on the season, and 1-0 in the conference with the win over the Knights as the Knights dropped to 5-3 overall, and 0-1 in the conference.
Fans were given a proper fulfillment of the highly anticipated match-up, as both teams came out with animated intensity. It was the Knights who found the net first, getting two in before Michael Bigelow answered for AACC off an assist from Jeffrey Pauley.
The first quarter would finish with the Knights leading 6-3; Bigelow scored another for AACC, off a feed from Dylan Mansur, and Jeremy Ross scored off a solo drive. The second quarter would remain scoreless for the Knights, but the Riverhawks had Ross and Bigelow each scoring again, to cut the lead to just 1 goal (6-5), in favor of Essex at halftime.
The second half showed no sign of either team slowing down, as both sides continued the back and forth action. Down 8-6, the Riverhawks capitalized on Knight penalties and scored 2 man-up opportunity goals to tie the game. The Knights continued to score, but the Riverhawks continued to answer. Going into the last 15 minutes of play, Essex was leading 11-9.
Despite scoring first to give themselves a 12-9 lead, the Riverhawks would score 5 unanswered goals, claiming the victory 14-12.
Jeremy Ross would finish the day scoring 6 for the Riverhawks, Bigelow finishing with 5, Jeffrey Pauley, Brett Carter, and Justin Messersmith each scoring 1. Messersmith also took every face-off for AACC – winning 16-26.
Along with winning at the face-off X, the Riverhawks also out ground-balled the Knights 34 to 24, had fewer turnovers, and capitalized on 4 of their 7 man-up opportunities. Kyle Harrison defended the pipes for AACC for all four quarters; recording 8 saves on the day, while contributing to the successful 18 of 21 clears.
The Riverhawks next match-up is another conference/division home game, this Wednesday night (3/29) vs. the Dragons of Howard Community College. Face-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.