HOUGHTON, NY—The Alfred University men's lacrosse team (10-4, E8 4-3) dominated Houghton College on the road Wednesday evening behind hat-tricks from junior Nick Skibitsky (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville) and sophomore Jake Lynch (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point).
 
The Saxons had no trouble scoring in the first quarter, earning a 7-0 lead in the first 15 minutes. In the opening minutes of the second quarter, AU widened the gap with two more goals from sophomore Brett McMichael (Penn Yann, NY/Penn Yann) and junior Rob Ensmenger (Old Bethpage, NY/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK) before the Highlanders mustered their first goal. At the end of the first half, the Saxons led 13-2.
 
The opening minutes of the third quarter were scoreless, with AU breaking the silence when sophomore Donny Sturdevant (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) found the back of the net after receiving a pass from Lynch. The Saxons went on to score four more goals in the quarter, increasing the lead to 18-2.
 
Houghton scored first in the final quarter before Skibitsky completed his hat-trick with 9:58 to go in the game. Sophomores David LaSpina (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) and Allen Vitale (Brighton, NY/Brighton) rounded out the scoring on the night with their first goals of the season. AU finished with a 21-3 win.
 
Junior John Winchell (Vestal, NY/Vestal) and Ensmenger scored two goals each. Winchell paced the Saxons with four assists, with Lynch and McMichael right behind him with three each. McMichael's assists (career-high) came on three consecutive goals in the first quarter over the course of five minutes.
 
Junior Jimmy Pratti (Slatehill, NY/Minisink Valley) scored one goal while leading the team with 15-of-20 faceoff wins and nine ground balls. LaSpina won 6-of-7 faceoffs in the game.
 
Freshman Frank Gavigan (Yorktown, NY/Yorktown) scored his first career goal at AU while leading the team with two caused turnovers and six ground balls.
 
Time in goal was split between Sophomore Drew Gardner (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) and freshman Brandon Smith (Queens, NY/The Governor's Academy) with Smith playing the lion share of the minutes. Gardner led the team with four saves while Smith accumulated three. Houghton's Chris Bucciarelli played the entire game in goal for the Highlanders, making 18 saves.
 
The Saxons return home on Saturday to take on St. John Fisher College in a high-stakes game at 1PM. The winner of the matchup will earn a berth to the Empire 8 Championship Tournament. AU has not made the tournament since its inception in 2000. In 2015 Nazareth College won the Empire 8 tournament, earning the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.