HOBOKEN, NJ—The Alfred University men's lacrosse team (6-2, E8 0-1) opened Empire 8 play with a 22-10 loss to #12 ranked Stevens Tech on the road on Saturday afternoon.
 
Sophomore Jake Lynch (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) led the Saxons with four goals while junior Nick Skibitsky (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East) and freshman Joe Fornataro (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) scored two goals each.  Senior Derek Bishopp (Livonia, NY/Livonia) and junior Keenan Denis (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) rounded out the scoring for AU.
 
The Ducks were paced by freshman Max Bailey with seven goals.
 
Juniors John Winchell (Vestal, NY/Vestal) and Chris Diesenroth (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) along with sophomore David LaSpina (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) had an assist each.
 
At the end of the first half the Saxons trailed the Ducks 8-3 despite a man-up goal from Lynch and an even strength goal from Fornataro in the second quarter. 
 
The Saxons ramped up their scoring in the second half, finding the back of the net seven times, but Stevens' offense continued to score, outpacing AU 14-7 in down the stretch.  By the final buzzer, the Ducks held onto a 22-10 advantage.
 
Sophomore Ty Alawi (Rochester, NY/Greece-Arcadia-Olympia) led the Saxons with four ground balls in the game. Five other Saxons accumulated two ground balls each.
 
Along with pacing AU in goals, Lynch caused two turnovers in the contest.
 
Time in goal was split between sophomores Drew Gardner (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) and Chris Doktor (Irondequoit, NY/Eastridge) along with freshman Brandon Smith (Queens, NY/The Governor's Academy). Smith led the Saxons with three saves in the game while Gardner and Doktor notched two saves each.
 
AU is off until next Saturday when they return home to take on the Hartwick Hawks at 1PM.