MARCY, NY—Sophomore Jake Lynch (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Points) scored seven goals in a 17-3 victory to open the 2016 season over SUNY Poly Tech on the road Saturday afternoon.
 
Freshman Joe Fornataro (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) scored four goals in his collegiate debut for the Saxons. Senior Tanner Morse (Corning, NY/Corning Painted-Post East) scored twice for the Saxons while four other AU players chipped in with a goal each.
 
The Saxons opened the season quickly, scoring only 4:31 into the game when Morse streaked toward the cage to begin the scoring frenzy in the first quarter. Fornataro scored nearly two minutes later, followed by Lynch, who completed a hat-trick before the close of the first quarter.
 
Lynch also opened the second quarter by scoring unassisted nearly seven minutes in. The seven-goal run was ended with 6:48 to go in the half when Tyler Heldt earned the first goal for the Wildcats. However, the Saxons would hold SUNY Poly Tech scoreless the remainder of the half. Four more AU goals ensued, with Fornataro clinching his hat-trick prior to the half-time buzzer.
 
The Wildcats opened the second half with a goal to bring the game to 11-2. Over the next quarter four Saxons combined for six goals to complete the 17-goal game for AU. Finally, the Wildcats closed out the scoring with 5:44 left on the clock.
 
In addition to leading in scoring, Lynch also led the Saxons with two assists. Fornataro, juniors Rob Esmenger (Old Bethpage, NY/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK), Derek Bishopp (Livonia, NY/Livonia), and sophomores Brett McMichael (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan), Donny Sturdevant (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point), and Samuel DiRisio (Prattsburgh, NY/Penn Yan) had an assist each.
 
Junior Jimmy Pratti (Slatehill, NY/Minisink Valley) led AU with nine groundballs and fellow junior Chris Diesenroth (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) provided the team with four groundballs. Pratti also won 14-of-18 (77.8%) faceoffs in the matchup.

Time between the pipes was split between three Saxons. Sophomore Drew Gardner (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Points) started for AU and earned the win with eight saves and only two goals against. Sophomore Chris Doktor (Irondequoit, NY/East Ridge) and freshman Brandon Smith (Queens, NY/The Govenor's Academy) had 12 minutes of play and two saves, respectively.

Fornataro paced AU with four caused turnovers while junior Patrick DuPree (Corning, NY/Corning Painted-Post East) had three caused turnovers. SUNY Poly Tech's Nicholas Brenon had four caused turnovers for the Wildcats.

AU (1-0, E8 0-0) faces SUNY Brockport next Saturday at 1PM on the road before heading south for their Spring Break stint in Myrtle Beach, SC.